– Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. —
In the first two months of this year, around 2.5 million Americans bought guns, a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2008. It was great news for gun makers and a sign of a dark mood in the country.
Gun sales shot up almost immediately after Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential elections on November 4 and firearm enthusiasts rushed to stores, fearing he would tighten gun controls despite campaign pledges to the contrary.
After the November spike, gun dealers say, a second motive has helped drive sales: fear of social unrest as the ailing economy pushes the newly destitute deeper into misery. Many of the newly poor come from the relentlessly rising ranks of the unemployed. In February alone, an average of 23,000 people a day lost their jobs.
Tent cities for the homeless have expanded outside a string of American cities, from Sacramento and Phoenix to Atlanta and Seattle, for people who are living the American dream in reverse. First they lose their jobs, then their health insurance, then their homes, then their hopes. The encampments are reminiscent of Third World refugee camps.
Often former members of the middle class, tent dwellers’ accounts of their plight to television cameras have a common theme: “I never thought this could happen to me.” Unlike the victims of Katrina, the 2005 hurricane that destroyed much of New Orleans, many of the newly-poor are white.
The FBI says it carried out 1,213,885 criminal background checks on prospective firearms buyers in January and 1,259,078 in February, jumps of 28% and 23.3% respectively. Keen demand turned the stocks of publicly-trade firearms companies like Smith & Wesson (up 80% since November) and Sturm Ruger (up more than 100%) into shining stars on the New York Stock Exchange.
There are no statistics on how many guns are bought by people who think they need them to defend themselves against desperate fellow citizens.
But, as columnist David Ignatius put it in the Washington Post, “there’s an ugly mood developing as people start looking for villains to blame for the economic mess.” In November, an analysis published by the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute listed “unforeseen economic collapse” as one of the possible causes of future “widespread civil violence.”
The American economy is down but not out, and in mid-March some experts reported signs that the pace of the decline was slowing. But it hasn’t slowed enough to sweep away the sense of anxiety and fear that comes through in many conversations and commentaries about the future of this normally optimistic country.
While Obama’s approval rating remains high, at 59%, almost two thirds of the population thinks the country is on the wrong track, according to a poll commissioned by National Public Radio in mid-March.
“What is really remarkable about all this is that there hasn’t been social unrest,” remarked an executive with business interests in Latin American countries where riots and street demonstrations in response to economic squeezes are routine. “The conditions for it are all there.”
ANGER ABOUT BAILOUTS
Anger is building. Just under half of those surveyed in a poll by the Pew Research Center this month expressed anger about “bailing out banks and financial institutions that made poor decisions.” The poll was taken before details became known of the full extent of the bonus-paying spree to members of the very team that brought the insurance giant AIG close to collapse.
The government propped up AIG with close to $200 billion and now owns 80% of the company. The argument that $165 million in bonuses had to be paid under contractual obligations went down particularly badly with workers of the three U.S. car companies whose leaders appealed for support from the Bush administration last year when the economic crisis gathered steam.
One of the conditions for the billions that were dispensed to the car industry was that contracts between auto workers and their union, the United Auto Workers, had to be renegotiated to cut costs. The union agreed, and the question arises: are contracts with blue-collar workers less binding than those with highly-paid derivatives traders?
Some see this as another sign of the inequalities that Obama promised to address. Remember his famous exchange with Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, during a campaign stop? “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” Obama told him.
There’s less wealth to spread around now as trillions of dollars has evaporated with increasing speed in the deepening crisis. In housing alone, more than $5 trillion has vanished. The gap between rich and poor, a gap of Third World proportions, has not changed. A full-time worker, on average, made $37,606 last year, considerably less than in 1973, adjusted for inflation.
While CEOs made 45 times as much as workers in 1973 they make more than 300 times as much today, according to Holly Sklar, author of “Raise the Floor, Wages and Policies that Work for All of US.”
To what extent those gaps will shrink under Obama remains to be seen and the outlook for swift action is not promising. There are, in fact, not many things for which the outlook is promising. Exceptions include Smith&Wesson. They expect revenue to double within the next three years.
You can contact the author at Debusmann@Reuters.com.
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We all sit around and hope for the best, desire everything under the sun, look at others who do not and think poorly of them. I had a neighber ask to purchase some property of mine for use by his horses. I told him to use it as long as he wanted, Offered to put it in writing, do care if I get sued, and he still hasnt taken me up on it. Their is no faith in our fellow man, because we do not police ourselves. Want the drug wars in Mexico to stop, Turn in your pot smoking buddy. Want the economy to get better, buy something American Made Like a gun. every American should be a responsible gun owner. And every American needs to run for politics. Police your Neighbors shoot the Lawyers, and make the world around you the best it can be. How many people know someone who is losing there home and have offered no assistance because it is not there problem? How many homes have been abandoned only because the owner does not see a profit coming. How can we walk away being able to afford a home without facing real reprocusion.
Buy a Gun today or learn to speak Russian and Chinese tomorrow. But take the time to truly know how to use it. And purchase gun locks and ammunition lockable cases.
Nice post “Disgusted”, you’re dead on, I mean back in the 1950’s no one hated blacks, no one hated asian americans it was like being in Candyland where the clouds are made of cotton candy and every road is called gumdrop lane. What what changes have been made.
This is why I wonder why people won’t let their generation take responsibility and prefer to blame it on everyone else. It’s the baby boomers who introduced all the deadly drugs to this country, it’s the baby boomers who made war first diplomacy second an ok tactic, it’s the baby boomers who voted in political monsters like Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama for the most part yet nothing it’s their fault, it’s always the young people.
People like Craig are the ones who scare me.
Mike:
I don’t think anyone is saying there aren’t decent people who own guns; the problem is there are a lot of people owning guns who are not decent people. For these people, guns end up having an increasingly negative effect as they become an answer or a fallback to supposed problems. I imagine gun ownership also plays a part in overall fear generation, which for certain people could be amplified to a point where they act out in a potentially (and perhaps uncharacteristically) violent way.
I think Crackersan is getting more to the issue. We have monetary and social gaps that have a lot to do with this and a culture that has celebrated certain ideals which have left holes in our system and gaps between us as people.
No one need worry about legal gun purchases. Now, if you were saying that ILLEGAL gun purchases were dramatically higher, the we should worry.
And the myth about countless tent cities is just that - myth.
AMMO—–lots and lots of ammo! Thats what I need.
[...] economic crisis, gun dealers, recession, social unrest, United States, US According to Reuters, in the first two months of 2009, around 2.5 million Americans bought guns, a 26 percent increase [...]
>>>Tent cities for the homeless have expanded outside a string of American cities, from Sacramento and Phoenix to Atlanta and Seattle, for people who are living the American dream in reverse. First they lose their jobs, then their health insurance, then their homes, then their hopes. The encampments are reminiscent of Third World refugee camps.<<<
Got pictures? I think you are grossly exaggerating the negatives, but that’s most likely a direct order from the most totally negative new service ever created. REUTERS.
Boy! The topic of guns really obscures the scariest topic in this article: social unrest. I’ve seen precious little reasoned debate in the comments about the potential for social unrest in this country. Arguing about guns is just spitting in the wind.
Yes, of course arms will figure heavily in any social unrest, but what will be the tipping point? What are the factors that could cause widespread unrest and violence? Where will the likely flash points be? Who can envision the scenarios? Is anyone preparing for violent outbursts (other than flight or arming ourselves to the teeth?) If it comes to a civil war (which would likely pit those-who-have vs. those-who-have-not) does it matter who has guns? I suspect that whether you own firearms or not will ultimately be immaterial. Survival will require more skills than a firearm. (Though, I do acknowledge the role firearms will play in any scenario.)
Come on people! Put your brainpower to work on solving the real problems. The 2nd Amendment debate is specious. No one is going to take away our guns.
I am a Brit and think the violence in the US is more complex than whether people have the right to have guns or not. Forgive me if I am wrong - but a question to the gun control crowd - but don’t many Canadians own guns? If they do their crime level is very low compared to the US. Also here in the UK we do not have households with guns - but we have very high levels of crime and knife crime in particular - but even gun crime is on the rise - because the gangs can get them even if ordinary citizens cannot.
In many European countries it is okay to have guns - in fact in many scandinavian countries most households have a shotgun. These countries have a very low crime rate.
Now for the reason I think there is such a difference. America and Britain are very similar in many ways - they are both (for developed nations) very unnequal nations. The gap between the rich and the poor is huge in both countries. In the US 1% of the population control over 80% of the wealth. That cannot be good for any society - and certainly does not help the economy (those super billionaires do not spend it all - how could they - so effectively billions of dollars are taken out of circulation). In Britain we have similar situation - a very unequal country - but at least in Britain we have free healthcare and all citizens get a basic amount to live on. It is really small but it means they do not starve. Our healthcare system is great - it works well. I go to my doctors - it is a lovely building with about seven doctors and I can just ring and get an appointment when i want. I can also go private if I wish to so I do not have to use the free health care. But in many ways Britain is becoming more and more like the US - cutting the benefits system and running down the NHS. In Europe however they have excellent healthcare - brilliant benefits so no one has to starve or live in tents etc. I always notice when I go to Brussels or Paris or Holland - how clean it is - how safe it feels and how well most people look. Something I also notice in Canada.
Now I love the US - I have visited many times California, Florida, Carolina, New York etc - and I do not think guns are the issue. But I do think the fact that the words most developed nation has tent cities - where people are homeless and unable to even eat is totally and utterly shocking. You cannot have a peaceful society when there are so many have nots - and when so many people could become a have not due to the bad luck of losing their job or becoming ill.
I think both Americans and us Brits have to admit that our Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism has blown up in our faces and is not working. We need a new model and by trying to fix the old one and not realising what needs doing I am really afraid that a country such as China will end up being the world superpower in about ten years time. NOt good!
People like Disgusted are the ones that scare me. How can anyone be so willfully ignorant?
Wow, there are a lot of people that have the completely wrong idea about why so many Americans were buying up guns right around the election. Do your homework folks, Mr. Clinton and his gun ban probably made the biggest impact. As soon as Obama took office everyone went out and purchased the guns that they wanted…probably because they will be banned pretty soon…that’s what democrats do. They like to run average citizens lives, and like to do it they’re way. “Disgusted” seemed to have a really warped idea on what the average American gun owner is like. Just to let you know Mr. or Mrs. Disgusted I am a gun owner and I have a carry permit(not that I’ve ever used it) but I’m not a raging lunatic hell-bent on starting a civil war. If you met me I’m willing to bet that you’d think I’m a pretty nice guy and I bet you’d want me to come over and play with all 27 cat’s you probably store in your tiny 1 bedroom apartment.
To all the anti-gun nuts ranting on every forum and blog on the internet I just want to say thanks! You provide people just like me with endless entertainment! Yes we have guns, we have ammo, we’re frightening aren’t we!!??
We also have husbands and wives and children and family and friends that we cherish more than anything in the world.
Civil unrest in the United States of America will never be started by honest, sincere people like me (that own guns…oohhh!) We’ll simply be the ones defending ourselves and our loved ones by crazed dementia patients such as your self Mr. Disgusted!
I’m not asking you or people like you to go out and buy a gun I’m just simply asking you and people like you to respect the fact that I HAVE THE RIGHT TO, just like YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH!
Small, medium and large industries are hurting from over-regulation burdening their respective companies, apart from the financial sector which has lavishly been given de-regulation after de-regulation AND poor oversight. There is no mistake that the issue is of great urgency (the state of California is a prime example of what not to do) but certain key factions don’t want to open their eyes and see it. (Sarcasm ON)Perhaps if we all cut our carbon emmissions the world will magically have more jobs available and the wildlife will thanks us like it did Snow White in the Disney movie. (Sarcasm OFF)
Perhaps the return to a bucolic country, where the major wealth resides solely on organically grown produce and eco-tourism might appease some people, at last (no sarcasm).
I grew up in the 1950s. We were a proud but humble country back then. We were admired as a nation, we were optimistic, we knew our neighbors, and we helped our neighbors. Almost no one felt the need for a gun for protection.
50 years later we hate each other. The Republicans seized power by exploiting our differences. They sowed the seeds of hate and those seeds have matured into a permanent state of hatred.
I’m a U.S. citizen, my family has been in this country since 1738. I’m a veteran. I love my country, but because I am a liberal I have been called every ugly name possible (like unAmerican, traitor, communist) by the right wing hate freaks like Coulter, Limbaugh and O’Reilly. I’m sick of it and I now probably hate the right every bit as much as they’ve hated me for a decade or so. Isn’t this just great?
So, by all means, America, arm yourselves for the final fight. Buy those guns and have them ready for the day you snap, because that’s the kind of country we have become: too lazy (or stupid) and too cowardly to try to fix whats wrong. It’s easier to arm yourself because what could be more satisfying than blowing away a fellow American?
I feel sorry for any politician who tries to fix this mess because the Rush Limbaughs want failure and the Glenn Becks want revolution and the pliable idiots will all comply.
Yes, buy your guns, dozens and dozens of guns because violence is the answer to everything (well, that and tax cuts). As for me, I know the way to Canada. The day the average American has to arm himself to survive is the final day of what was once a smart, confident nation. Evidently that day is on the horizon and the NRA couldn’t be happier.
Personally I’m investing in Ammo, Power, Primers, and Brass. It’s going up far faster then any other investment. Obama really is generating business growth isn’t he! Sarcasm Off/
I am with ya Ken… I am a peace loving help your neighbor and build a community…I lived in a similar edged suburb in Atlanta… When New Years Eve brought out my neighbors to the south… at midnight… we were divin’ under the bed… sub machine guns… big bangs… we knew they had been drinking… but as it came to who’s got the biggest baddest gun that night… I packed my bags… with the pending economy and current climate in the city… I left and moved to the mountains… still gunless… but the bears up here are pretty friendly in comparison…
Hey TWC
The people with blood on their hands are the people who are responsible for letting a violent and dangerous criminal out of prison, not law-abiding gun owners or firearms manufacturers. The recidivism rate for these people is high, they almost always commit more violent crimes. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Oakland policemen that lost their lives. They were let down by the very system they tried to protect. This is not a gun issue, this is a parole issue.
Something the NRA knows very well is Chairman Mao’s statement, “political power comes out of the barrel of a gun.” I wonder if the NRA would be willing to acknowledge the pedigree of this tenet of their purpose?
Sakes alive, nothing like a column about guns and anger to bring out the angry gun people in force.
Folks:
I’m a democratic-leaning independent. I’ll admit to having a strong “help thy neighbor” streak and (though you’ll doubt me when I’m done) I’m generally an optimist.
I believe there are forces at play in our society which are much too large for any one person to control. In fact, our society is already seriously fraying around the edges. Unless something radical happens soon, I’m not sure there will be any stopping the path we’re on.
Having gotten married last year, I began to feel that, at any moment, I might be called upon to protect someone beyond myself. (I know, a dated view steeped in small-minded gender biases, but that’s how I was raised. Sorry.)
We live in a nice suburb, but immediately to the North is a realtively poor area. If things unravel, the pent-up anger, hunger, need, violence, and desperation will spill South.
Earlier this year, I applied for my gun permit. I haven’t purchased one yet.
Once I do, I sincerely hope never to have to use it. But believe me, if worse comes to worst and all manner of diplomacy won’t cut it, I’ll have no compunction defending my wife and our home.