According to the UK’s Telegraph, our cheery, red-checked, spirit of Christmas, Santa, had to deal with Americans buying record numbers of guns for Christmas, that is, a whopping surge of weapons gifts for themselves or others. That’s an eerie factoid in this season of “Peace on earth to men of good will,” wouldn’t you say?
According to the FBI, background checks abounded on customers requested by gun dealers to the merry old National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were requested in the six days before Christmas, as in “On the first day of Christmas, my sweetheart gave to me, a rifle to nail a partridge in a pear tree.” Yesiree!
Could it be in response to the National Defense Authorization Act being signed by President Obama? That is, $662 billion for defense and weapons with a slip-in bill so the president can order the military to arrest anyone indefinitely, foreign or U.S. citizens, who seemed to be involved in terrorist actions?
With a stroke of the pen, the president shredded the Constitution, denying even U.S. citizens the right to have any evidence of the charge, a trial, or a lawyer. The signing gave the military power to indefinitely hold a terror suspect à la GITMO (which he was going to get rid of pronto, but alas, did not.)
Nevertheless, this surge in gun purchases not only weighed down Santa’s sleigh. It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November. Perhaps those guns were needed for turkey shoots.
On the day before Christmas Eve, Dec 23, 2011, alone, there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history. Santa was agog. He called in the elves to hook up some more sleighs to his, and to attach more reindeer to handle the pulling. Then, he simply slipped the well-packed pistols and rifles down the chimneys, and skipped the cookies and milk. He’d made his list and checked it twice to see who was naughty or nice, and, somewhat befuddled, he carried on. He didn’t know who was whom.
As a matter of fact, the actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if the individual customers took home more guns than one each. More guns galore now abound in the good old USA, more than ever. Ho, Ho, Ho! Some folks think America’s surge in gun buying is a response to the stalled economy and people fearing crime waves—or needing to be part of future waves of hijacking or all-out revolution to take over the economy. Though the biggest reason the buyers are rushing to gun shops is because they believetighter firearms laws will be introduced in the future. So it goes.
And then, they, we, couldn’t exercise their or our Constitutional right to bear arms, for whatever reason. So, on Donner, on Blitzer, on the rest of you, let’s get the shooting show on the road. And take a look at this cute story, Gun club offers pictures with Santa, November, 29, 2011, and Gun sales soar amid fears of Obama, weapons ban on July 11, 2009. We’re going to call him President Party Pooper. Well, maybe not. He did have that damn bin Laden shot without trial, and that other pain in the butt, Al-Awaki, despite the fact that he was an American citizen. Gee, isn’t that murder?
Yet, the ghost of Charlton Heston was heard to speak in the halls of the National Rifle Association, saying he was damn mad. He knew people were concerned about self-defense because police officer numbers were declining. Somehow, here in New York City they’re going up to near 40,000. Mayor Bloomberg calls them the seventh largest army in the world, ready and able to take on any rabble-rousing troublemakers like Occupy Wall Street. And other mayors around the country have followed his lead.
Returning to our NRA spokesman, he said, “I think there’s an increased realization that when something bad occurs, it’s going to be between them (the people) and the criminal.” Could it be that if Americans are all criminalized, it will be between them and whoever is criminalizing them, i.e., the US government? You never do know these things for sure ’til they’re realities. But then the Legal Community Against Violence noted there were some 290 million guns owned in the USA. “That’s approximately 90 guns for every 100 people,” the report added, which is a real eye-opener. Check it out.
For instance, anti-gun campaigners said those who already owned weapons were simply hoarding more of them due to the “fear-mongering” by the NRA. Ah that nasty old NRA. How about the good old USA, with the $662 billion defense appropriation? Plus all the other billions spent in arms over the years, here and abroad. That’s some an attitude for you. Shoot up the whole world if you have to for freedom and democracy. Something doesn’t jibe here.
Ironically, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence reported, “The research we’ve seen indicates fewer and fewer people own more and more guns.” That seemed truly sad to her. Yet, Dave LaRue, of Legendary Guns in Phoenix, Arizona, said Christmas sales were up 25 percent on the previous year and ammunition sales were also “brisk.” Brisk? Seems more like sales are booming, no pun intended.
And of course, you remember Phoenix, don’t you? It’s not far from Tucson in Arizona, where the near-fatal shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by a deranged gunman took place last January. There have been increasing calls for tighter gun control. Poor Rep. Giffords survived being shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun, and six other people were killed by the cuckoo-bird Jared Laughner. Well, gee, maybe this surge of gun buying isn’t the greatest gift choice on the list. How about a bulletproof vest? I mean, doesn’t this show distrust in law enforcement to do the job? If so, that’s really sad.
In fact, our spokesperson said, “There are a lot of people concerned about pending gun legislation and the sense about the current administration. People think future availability will be limited and there’s a feeling of get it while you can.” Don’t forget to stock up on ammo, too. I guess you want to have an automatic pistol and rifle or two in the mix, if you’re into it. Never know when the Indians may be coming back or the Mexican aliens gonna get hot under the collar, or outer space folks may land in the desert. I mean, it’s a dangerous world out there, even for Santa. Some dude with a handheld missile launcher could take him and the reindeers out in a minute.
On top of that, the New York Post recently ran a story, called Meet the big shot–SEAL is America’s deadliest sniper, which made your worst John Wayne movie look like the Boy Scout’s Manual. It’s a paean (song of praise and triumph) to death by sniper fire by a nice young man who could be the boy next door. Oh boy!
If that sounds whacky, just think again about that record for gun sales on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, thanks a lot, when 129,166 background searches were carried out on customers buying weapons. I mean we can’t attribute all that to overeating and drinking too much. There’s something a little nutso going on here, I mean in America, deep in its soul, and those of us who don’t tote guns or even know how to fire them are getting pretty antsy ourselves. I don’t know about you but I’d like to sign up for the next moon or Mars shot, kaboom, right into outer space. Sayonara, earth! I done had enough of you.
Jerry Mazza is a freelance writer, life-long resident of New York City. An EBook version of his book of poems “State Of Shock,” on 9/11 and its after effects is now available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.He has also written hundreds of articles on politics and government as Associate Editor of Intrepid Report (formerly Online Journal). Reach him at gvmaz@verizon.net.
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Santa’s sleigh packed with guns this Christmas
Posted on January 9, 2012 by Jerry Mazza
According to the UK’s Telegraph, our cheery, red-checked, spirit of Christmas, Santa, had to deal with Americans buying record numbers of guns for Christmas, that is, a whopping surge of weapons gifts for themselves or others. That’s an eerie factoid in this season of “Peace on earth to men of good will,” wouldn’t you say?
According to the FBI, background checks abounded on customers requested by gun dealers to the merry old National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were requested in the six days before Christmas, as in “On the first day of Christmas, my sweetheart gave to me, a rifle to nail a partridge in a pear tree.” Yesiree!
Could it be in response to the National Defense Authorization Act being signed by President Obama? That is, $662 billion for defense and weapons with a slip-in bill so the president can order the military to arrest anyone indefinitely, foreign or U.S. citizens, who seemed to be involved in terrorist actions?
With a stroke of the pen, the president shredded the Constitution, denying even U.S. citizens the right to have any evidence of the charge, a trial, or a lawyer. The signing gave the military power to indefinitely hold a terror suspect à la GITMO (which he was going to get rid of pronto, but alas, did not.)
Nevertheless, this surge in gun purchases not only weighed down Santa’s sleigh. It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November. Perhaps those guns were needed for turkey shoots.
On the day before Christmas Eve, Dec 23, 2011, alone, there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history. Santa was agog. He called in the elves to hook up some more sleighs to his, and to attach more reindeer to handle the pulling. Then, he simply slipped the well-packed pistols and rifles down the chimneys, and skipped the cookies and milk. He’d made his list and checked it twice to see who was naughty or nice, and, somewhat befuddled, he carried on. He didn’t know who was whom.
As a matter of fact, the actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if the individual customers took home more guns than one each. More guns galore now abound in the good old USA, more than ever. Ho, Ho, Ho! Some folks think America’s surge in gun buying is a response to the stalled economy and people fearing crime waves—or needing to be part of future waves of hijacking or all-out revolution to take over the economy. Though the biggest reason the buyers are rushing to gun shops is because they believe tighter firearms laws will be introduced in the future. So it goes.
And then, they, we, couldn’t exercise their or our Constitutional right to bear arms, for whatever reason. So, on Donner, on Blitzer, on the rest of you, let’s get the shooting show on the road. And take a look at this cute story, Gun club offers pictures with Santa, November, 29, 2011, and Gun sales soar amid fears of Obama, weapons ban on July 11, 2009. We’re going to call him President Party Pooper. Well, maybe not. He did have that damn bin Laden shot without trial, and that other pain in the butt, Al-Awaki, despite the fact that he was an American citizen. Gee, isn’t that murder?
Yet, the ghost of Charlton Heston was heard to speak in the halls of the National Rifle Association, saying he was damn mad. He knew people were concerned about self-defense because police officer numbers were declining. Somehow, here in New York City they’re going up to near 40,000. Mayor Bloomberg calls them the seventh largest army in the world, ready and able to take on any rabble-rousing troublemakers like Occupy Wall Street. And other mayors around the country have followed his lead.
Returning to our NRA spokesman, he said, “I think there’s an increased realization that when something bad occurs, it’s going to be between them (the people) and the criminal.” Could it be that if Americans are all criminalized, it will be between them and whoever is criminalizing them, i.e., the US government? You never do know these things for sure ’til they’re realities. But then the Legal Community Against Violence noted there were some 290 million guns owned in the USA. “That’s approximately 90 guns for every 100 people,” the report added, which is a real eye-opener. Check it out.
For instance, anti-gun campaigners said those who already owned weapons were simply hoarding more of them due to the “fear-mongering” by the NRA. Ah that nasty old NRA. How about the good old USA, with the $662 billion defense appropriation? Plus all the other billions spent in arms over the years, here and abroad. That’s some an attitude for you. Shoot up the whole world if you have to for freedom and democracy. Something doesn’t jibe here.
Ironically, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence reported, “The research we’ve seen indicates fewer and fewer people own more and more guns.” That seemed truly sad to her. Yet, Dave LaRue, of Legendary Guns in Phoenix, Arizona, said Christmas sales were up 25 percent on the previous year and ammunition sales were also “brisk.” Brisk? Seems more like sales are booming, no pun intended.
And of course, you remember Phoenix, don’t you? It’s not far from Tucson in Arizona, where the near-fatal shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by a deranged gunman took place last January. There have been increasing calls for tighter gun control. Poor Rep. Giffords survived being shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun, and six other people were killed by the cuckoo-bird Jared Laughner. Well, gee, maybe this surge of gun buying isn’t the greatest gift choice on the list. How about a bulletproof vest? I mean, doesn’t this show distrust in law enforcement to do the job? If so, that’s really sad.
In fact, our spokesperson said, “There are a lot of people concerned about pending gun legislation and the sense about the current administration. People think future availability will be limited and there’s a feeling of get it while you can.” Don’t forget to stock up on ammo, too. I guess you want to have an automatic pistol and rifle or two in the mix, if you’re into it. Never know when the Indians may be coming back or the Mexican aliens gonna get hot under the collar, or outer space folks may land in the desert. I mean, it’s a dangerous world out there, even for Santa. Some dude with a handheld missile launcher could take him and the reindeers out in a minute.
On top of that, the New York Post recently ran a story, called Meet the big shot–SEAL is America’s deadliest sniper, which made your worst John Wayne movie look like the Boy Scout’s Manual. It’s a paean (song of praise and triumph) to death by sniper fire by a nice young man who could be the boy next door. Oh boy!
If that sounds whacky, just think again about that record for gun sales on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, thanks a lot, when 129,166 background searches were carried out on customers buying weapons. I mean we can’t attribute all that to overeating and drinking too much. There’s something a little nutso going on here, I mean in America, deep in its soul, and those of us who don’t tote guns or even know how to fire them are getting pretty antsy ourselves. I don’t know about you but I’d like to sign up for the next moon or Mars shot, kaboom, right into outer space. Sayonara, earth! I done had enough of you.
Jerry Mazza is a freelance writer, life-long resident of New York City. An EBook version of his book of poems “State Of Shock,” on 9/11 and its after effects is now available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. He has also written hundreds of articles on politics and government as Associate Editor of Intrepid Report (formerly Online Journal). Reach him at gvmaz@verizon.net.