Ever since the shooting at the school in New Town, people have been buying firearms and ammunition like there ain’t no tomorrow. That’s because they think there might not be a tomorrow to do that.
This buying frenzy is based on fear of the unknown. People don’t really know the authority or the limits thereof concerning the government. They’re afraid that they’ll wake up tomorrow and learn the government has banned some kind of firearm and/or ammunition and they’re buying what they can while the gettin’s still good.
There’s also been a run on applications for concealed handgun permits. Again, it’s based on fear. People have no idea what’s going to happen in the next few months, so they rush out to find an instructor that they can take a class from to get a carry permit. The Clerk of Court at the Floyd County Courthouse told me more applications have been filed in the last month than the previous entire year.
I call this mindset the ‘storm syndrome’. People hear of impending bad weather like heavy snow, ice storms and the kind of weather than might keep you home for a few days and they rush downtown for groceries, gasoline and meds. By closing time that evening, the shelves are empty.
I don’t think it would matter even if the media told everybody there’s nothing to fear or worry about. Fear is real, regardless of what the fear is about. And people are going to respond to that fear, regardless of what they have to do to conquer it or prepare for what they’re afraid of.
And the buying continues.
