The Mirror Image of “Moving to Canada”

When a Republican wins a presidential election, namely George W Bush winning in 2004, there is an outcry among liberal Democrats of “That’s it!  I’m moving to Canada!”  The main alternate country is France, but that brings us to another language.  I think there’s a common understanding about Great Britain that it’s not all that great, and their Health Care Delivery System is only good when compared to America’s.  The biggest jokers on this accord are various celebrities who get easily lampooned in making these assertions — there is never any follow through.

A similar effect seems to be at play with the election of Barack Obama.  Except it is a little bit different.

Franklin Gun Shop outside Nashville, Tenn., sold more than 70 guns on Tuesday, making it the biggest sales day since the shop opened eight years ago. Guns & Gear in Cheyenne, Wyo., also set a one-day sales record on Tuesday, only to break that mark on Wednesday.

Stewart Wallin, owner of Get Some Guns in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray, Utah, said he sold nine assault weapons the day after Obama was elected. That same day, the gun store Cheaper Than Dirt! in Fort Worth, Texas, sold $101,000 worth of merchandise, shattering its single-day sales record, store owner DeWayne Irwin said.

One Georgia gun shop advertised an “Obama sale” on an outdoor sign, but the owner took it down after people complained that the shop appeared to be issuing a call to violence against the country’s first black leader.

AND

The Denver Post reported that by midday Wednesday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s “InstaCheck” background check — which is required for the sale of a firearm and typically takes about eight minutes — was jammed with waits lasting more than two hours.

This is similar to the news that came after Election 2004 that Americans were jamming the system of the Canadian Immigration websites exploring the possibility of emigrating.

AND  “The day after the election, I had many more calls than usual from people looking for semi-automatic rifles,” said David Greenberg, the owner of the Second Amendment Family Gun Shop, in Bisbee, Arizona, who sold out of AR-15 rifles in recent days.

It is a brave new world.  I imagine the Milita Movement, which sort of waned away as 9/11 subtley brought them into the mainstream of “hyper-patriotically defending the nation”, might be on the march again, such as it was.  They better stock-pile those guns.

You gotta love those gun shop names, though.

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