It happens every time!

The old let's stop people from having guns rhetoric spurs large increase in gun sales? 

Gun sales are spiking. https://t.co/ujEqyB9APZ

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 10, 2019

Let's be honest. Americans love their guns. I personally don't own a gun, have no desire to own a gun, and don't really understand the love of owning guns. But to each his/her own. I grew up with a bb gun that we used to shoot the squirrels that tried to eat out of the birdfeeder. My dad was a Vietnam vet and military reservist who had an unloaded military issued rifle sitting in a closet in the basement. I went hunting probably a half dozen times as a kid. It seemed like a lot of walking and then sitting around waiting in the quiet with very little action. Not that exciting for a pre-teen kid.

But Americans love their guns and I believe that they have the right to own them if they are safe and eligible to do so. This is not a unique situation. Everytime there is gun violence, the left calls for gun control measures, while Americans instinctively go purchase guns. Whether they are buying guns because it makes them feel safe after mass shootings, or they are purchasing them because they want to get them before something happens that would prevent them from doing so is a tough call. Probably a little bit of both.

But the reality is that as much as Politicians want to use gun violence to reduce the amount of guns it never works as planned. Highlighting gun violence and then making all sorts of big promises regarding new gun control measures always has the opposite intended effect. Think of it this way. If everyone was in agreement about the need to limit guns after these shootings, gun sales would go down, not up.