Supreme Court Justin Scalia (dark jacket left) and Kagan (camo woman righ) (courtesy wsj.com)

Now that Second Amendment stalwart Antonin Scalia has gone on to his reward, American gun rights are in [more] danger. Lest we forget, the Supreme Court was only 5 – 4 on Heller and McDonald, the two cases that restored — although not definitively — Americans’ natural, civil, Constitutional and individual right to keep and bear arms. Again, Scalia was on the side of the angels. With a potential Obama nominee vying to replace Scalia — during a presidential election year no less — well, who knows? With the fear of firearms freedom evisceration taking center stage amongst The People of the Gun, will they rush to gun stores to stock-up on ammo and guns? Will you?

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140 COMMENTS

  2. Not going to hoard unless I find .17 mach 2 but I have a new potential purchase catching my eye. Cough, American Ak, cough.

  4. Nope. No new appointment will be made before Obozo leaves, so no “new” threat exists. Expect a surge in November though.

    • Check with the lawblogs before you relax, what I’ve seen makes it sound like the Senate has left itself open to a recess appointment. It would only last until early 2017, but…

      • The Senate passed a resolution near the end of Ike’s presidency to ban recess appointments, precisely because he had made several (which were all confirmed later).

        • IANAL, but the 2014 SCOTUS ruling was that the president could make a recess appointment, if the recess was longer than 10 days.

          *HOWEVER*, a SCOTUS appointment *must* be confirmed by the Senate.

          Soooooooo… ?

        • Senate resolution would have no effect, because the power of the president to make recess appointments to SCOTUS is explicit in the Constitution, which Senate cannot override:

          “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

          So yes, it must be confirmed by the Senate eventually, but only at the end of their next session.

          However, the Senate can remain in session. They don’t have to go on recess. They could, for example, just vote to repeal ACA repeatedly.

    • I think that BHO has the potential to do a recess appointment right now as the Senate is not back in session until 2/22. We could be in for an interesting week ahead.

  6. No. Every month since the last panic ended there’s some new big event ya’ll keep predicting that supposed to trigger a new panic. It’s like ya’ll actually want and like the panic. Guess what? In two weeks when nothing happens it will be forgotten about and in 4 weeks something else will happen and ya’ll will be screaming, “THE GREAT 2016 PANIC IS HERE!!!! BETTER BUY IT NOW FOR ‘BAMA GETS EM!!!!” Just quit it already.

    • I don’t know, it already resulted in a surge here in my household this morning.

      Reloading supplies, ordered about 20 mins ago.

    • Say, there, On the can, can you point me to the place in this article where TTAG said there would be a panic? I must have missed it.

      It seems that once of us can’t read, and I’m betting that it isn’t me.

      • Constant fear mongering is good for business I suppose. The more panic stricken articles, the more clicks. Clicks drive advertisements and thus revenue. I understand it’s a business and you need to make a living. But I have every right to call you out on it. Get back to me in a month when nothing had happened other than maybe a couple hundred people buy a extra case of green tip, “just in case” nothing happens. And just in case they’d never have the cojones to use it anyway.

    • Appropriate name because you must be sitting on your brain.

      Here what’s going to happen and it isn’t “nothing”.

      President Zero will make an appointment subject to confirmation by the Senate. Even with the likely prospect this appointment will never be confirmed, he’d or any President in the same position would be stupid not to try. This will become an election issue nationally, especially any state with an incumbent Republican Senator. The media will be on every Republican Senator asking “why won’t you hold a vote?”. Every one of those Senators better have a good response prepped starting now. If they don’t, it’s intellectual laziness.

      Here are the unknowns: will President Zero appoint another radical or try to slip a more centrist but liberal leaning nomination through? The radical is who’d he want, but he knows the more radical he goes, the easier for the Senate to block. The centrist may be able to get enough votes for cloture, thus winning appointment, but may not be the radical he wants. I suspect he’ll try the former.

      The other unknown is how well the Senate Republicans handle the immense pressure the main stream media will bring to bear on them. I’m sure several Senators are more than willing to go along with confirming the nominee (think McCain, Kirk, Snow, Flake).

      Get ready because this will be a BFD until November.

        • So yo boy Obama’s not going to make a nomination and defer to the next president? That’s not what I’m hearing across all spectrum of news outlets.

          The fight is on and it will be nasty. Regardless of whether the nominee ultimately ends up on the bench, every Senate and the Presidential campaign will now be debating this. Scalia’s death was the earthquake under the ocean floor. The tidal wave is just starting to build and head towards landfall.

    • I was one of the people who predicted that it was all just hot breath with Obama. However, I don’t see this necessarily being the case here.

      When Obama was first elected, he shied away from talking on gun control, and, for the most part, avoided that issue during his first term.

      Hillary, in contrast, has made it a major plank of her platform. She thinks she needs it to beat Sanders, and things are partisan enough already that it’s not going to hurt her with the moderates, so she’s going all in.

      Hillary is also – still – the most likely candidate to win these elections. For all the conjectures, bookies know whom to bet on, and the odds in her favor are noticeably higher than anyone else right now.

      It is also possible for Democrats to take the Senate, depending on who is in the general, and how turnout looks like. You can bet that there would be a massive push for a gun control bill from Clinton then – she’ll want it for her crowning achievement, like ACA was for Obama. Of all the things she talked about, that’s the only one that would be more than just “continuing Obama’s legacy”, and I think she really wants to be in the history books.

      However, even without the issue of new SCOTUS appointee, the current 4:4 division means that any case on gun control – say, another state enacts an AWB – would most likely just split evenly, which means that lower court decision would stand. This usually favors state-level gun control rather than hurts it. This might encourage a new wave of gun control measures by the states on the basis that they can sneak it in now while SCOTUS won’t stop them, and hope for a new judge to be a Hillary appointee who would let them stand.

      So, federal AWB would be rather unlikely, but on state level, expect a lot more push for gun control in some states.

      • This has been brought up a lot recently, that Vegas is favoring Hillary. They also favored Rhonda Rousey, the Panthers, and Leo for the Oscar about 4 times. There is something here the bookies can’t see, either.

    • There wouldn’t be all these panics if Obama and Bloomberg and their people would stop threatening our rights every week.

  8. It shouldn’t.

    While I never underestimate the ability of the GOPe in the Senate to go wobbly, the chances of The Annointed One getting a SCt. nomination through are slim at best.

    Congress is still firmly in GOP hands, and the trend in gun laws in most states remains positive, so for now the chances of much more than do-nothing efforts like the recent Executive Orders are remote. (Yes, I know that those of you in CA/NY/NJ/etc. are now totally screwed, but that is no material change in the landscape.)

    Now, IF Hillary wins the election (or it looks like she will) OR the Senate goes wobbly, THEN I expect a run on guns and ammo that will make 2013 look like nothing.

  10. I’ve been hoarding since the September 2008 gun show. The only thing I’m short on is H110 powder.

    • I was planning on 500 rounds a month above what I shoot. Now I’m changing that to 1,000 rounds a month above. I’m investing in an uncertain future, and those investments include quantities of .22 LR, 9mm, .40, .45, 5.56, and .308 as well as food, water, and other SHTF supplies. I’ll add some .338 Lapua to that as well, even though I can’t reload it on my Hornady progressive press (where’s she’ll plate 11?!). Might as well add .300 Win Mag, too. Hard to go wrong with military calibers.

      I’ve been investing in the aforementioned “tangible assets” since Obama was on the campaign trail in 2007. I strongly suggest that everyone on TTAG does the same.

      Maybe we’re headed for a national AWB 2.0. Maybe not. I’ll have guns n’ ammo regardless.

      • Magnum calibers is the reason I have a single stage press along side the Dillon 650.
        That and for slow loading precision rounds.
        Accur81, try home canning. We have a group effort during the Labor Day weekend. Last effort was a bit over a thousand pounds of tuna.

        • Thanks Geoff. But adding the hazmat fee just kills the deals for me on powder and primers. I’ll find it locally sooner or later.

        • Guys in my gun club pool an order a couple of times a year to spread out the shipping and hazmat fees.

        • Tom in OR, hazmat fees were lowered this year (something like half of memory serves correct) second at least in my experience, if I buy more than 4lbs of powder at my favorite online dealers thats usually my break even point vs going to Cabelas, most places I can find stuff locally have a pretty steep markup and I pay state sales tax on top of that. So even when hazmat was still $28/order at 4lbs I am even and usually anything above that is savings vs local. Throw in a brick or two of primers to piggy back on the hazmat fee and they don’t change shipping by much and you are good to go. I think UPS allows something like 30lbs of powder and 5k primers per hazmat fee. That or I will grab a handful of boxes of bullets or something heavy that would normally cost a lot of more to ship alone. Only time I have ever bought local is when I am trying a new powder to shoot a ladders for initial load work up on a new bullet/powder combo.

      • Prices are reasonably good to stockpile, as well. You can still get good quality 5.56 for 30c/round + shipping, for example (look for Wolf Gold).

  11. I don’t want to panic but Turtle McConnell sayin “there SHOULD not be” instead of WILL not is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. That doof can’t be trusted not to cave.

  12. Maybe, but since the GOP holds the senate it will be the next POTUS not Obammy who will chose the next SCOTUS judge.

    Just keep that in mind for those of you flirting with TRUMP! and remember that he has often been in favor of gun control.

    • I think at this time, we can trust Donald Trump. He has come out as a strong advocate for the Second Amendment. He said he will absolutely protect the Second Amendment and rescind all of Obama’s unconstitutional executive actions against the Second Amendment.
      Donald Trump is a member of the NRA, has a CCW and often carries a weapon. His son, Donald Trump Jr. is a competitive pistol marksman, an avid hunter and fly fisherman. His sons spend a great deal of time with their friends hunting and shooting and they are certainly true American patriots.
      I am totally confident Mr. Trump will uphold our Constitutional rights.

      • He said? Like as in “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”? Talk is cheap on the campaign trail. Actions speak louder. Trump has been squishy for some time. Sorry – he wont get my vote

        • In the primary, fine. I betcha if he’s the candidate, he gets it in the general. I’m not even voting in the primary, but there are few GOPs that I wouldn’t select in the general, over Hillary. Still keeping Gary Johnson on my list, though.

        • “I’m not even voting in the primary”

          Why not?

          Primaries are where your vote really counts. They often have a turnout under 10%.

          Caucuses, even more so, because of their hierarchical nature.

      • “He said “.

        As in
        “a guy running for office said”.

        As in
        “A politician said”.

        Political verbiage doesn’t equate to truth………

      • To remind, this Stray Dogg guy is the same guy who was complaining about how Jews took over the US government in comments to that Ted Nugent story a few days ago. So when he speaks about “upholding our Constitutional rights”, take that with a huge grain of salt.

      • “I think AT this time, we can trust Donald Trump.”

        I think the key word in your post was “AT” . The only thing I trust Trump to do is the best thing for Trump. I lived in NYC for years and worked at the very high end of the financial industry. It is well known in the industry that Trump is a narcissistic thug (and not a particularly effective developer – what is he on Chapter 44 – i.e. chapter 11×4).

        I really really hope you are right, but since hope is not a strategy, I will be supporting Cruz.

    • Just keep in mind that Trump actually can win the general. Backing any other candidate guarantees a Democrat President and with it their Liberal SC picks.

      • Hmm, Cruz is beating Hill narrowly these days, while Trump loses badly. Both fall to Bernie in polls, sadly.

        • I don’t believe polls, unless they tell me what the question was, and who was asked, and they never do. Trump will draw GOP, Dem, and Ind votes, all 3 in significant numbers, for precisely the reasons the Republican party hates him, he is not an ideologue. A lot of us are sick of having to vote for extremist positions we hate, in order to support positions we like. Sometimes it’s time to vote for someone more moderate (read rational) than Cruz or Rubio either one. And the others are pretty much out of contention, barring a surprise.

        • Polls are a useful proxy, but remember what they’re a proxy for: national vote distribution. Given the electoral college system, you have to look at it state by state to make useful predictions beyond “this candidate looks stronger than that one”.

    • McConnell can keep the Senate in session. . . . he has done it before and just have one member gavel in and out. 30 seconds. Given this, I suspect he will do that. Let the member go home and keep the local Senators close by to do his bidding.

  14. In the short-term, no.
    The average gun-owner is only generally aware of gun-related items before the court and not the inter-Court politics.

    In the long-term, yes.
    Most likely Scalia will be replaced with a recess-appointed judge by Obama who will sit for the Maryland case and, as Scalia said in his dissenting opinion in King v. Burwell (aka. “Obamacare pt. 2”), the words and ideas of the Constitution don’t matter when a popular (but unconstitutional) law is challenged:

    “And the cases will publish forever the discouraging truth that the Supreme Court of the United States favors some laws over others, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to uphold and assist its favorites”

    Speculation: The SCOTUS, if there is a recess appointment, will find that though standard capacity magazines (15 for pistols and 30 for rifles) though “are in common use by law-abiding citizens” and not “unusual” weapons, that, because they have (cosmetic) features to unusual weapons (machine guns), therefore the sate can continue to prohibit law-abiding citizens from having them (and will justify it though saying something to the effect of, “criminals and terrorists use guns, and laws are needed to stop them”)

  16. Whether it does or it doesn’t, I’m not going to sit around and wait to find out. A buddy of mine was laughed at by his range mates because he buys two or three boxes of ammo every payday religiously. They called him “paranoid.” After Newtown, those same people were offering to buy loaded mags of 5.56 off him for ridiculously high prices with stars in their eyes. Rather than indulge them and reap a massive cash profit in the process, he just smiled and said “You could have prepared” while collecting his brass.

  18. If you live in an anti-2A state that doesn’t yet have an AWB, then buy up all the guns likely to be prohibited under an AWB. Texas isn’t going to pass an AWB. CT, NY and others already have them. It’s the states in the middle where things could get ugly.

    Also, this pretty much killed my dreams of getting rid of the AWB in CT. Even if the Senate stalls until next year, there’s no guaranty the GOP will win, and even if they do it’s at best a wash from status quo, and there are very few conservative judges as good as Scalia was. And even if the GOP takes the presidency the Dems could retake the Senate, forcing a “compromise” judge. Or President Trump could appoint an anti-2A buddy from NY.

    Yesterday I read a comment that said in the next debate Trump should promise that if he wins, Cruz gets Scalia’s seat on the bench. Would probably guarantee that Trump wins.

    • Ted Cruz could better serve the nation as a supreme court justice. With Donald Trump not being beholden to lobbyists and Cruz sitting on the supreme court, our nation can start to get back on track.

    • It won’t matter if the state you live in has an AWB. Should a Democrat take the next election, the entire nation will have one.

      And I’m not sure the exact specifics of things in CT, but here in NY, there really isn’t a “AWB”. You can still buy a fully functioning AR-15 with detachable magazines, but it’s “featureless” and looks funny. It also doesn’t have to be registered. Or you can buy a fixed magazine AR-15, which also doesn’t need to be registered. And then in 2 minutes remove the locking pin and install a regular magazine release and you’ve got a regular AR-15. Or you can buy a stripped lower and build your own AR-15. It’s supposed to be either featureless or fixed mag, but who would know otherwise? Granted, these last two options will be in violation of the law, but AR’s are hardly rare here or hard to acquire.

    • “… in the next debate Trump should promise that if he wins, Cruz gets Scalia’s seat on the bench. Would probably guarantee that Trump wins.”

      ^ This! So . much . this ! ! ! ! !

      • Nope, Trump loves you until he hates you. I think Trump is hating on Cruz. Not outright saying it, but he expresses it in other ways (“loser”, “liar”, “crazy”).

        • Trump is an entertainer. He’s “loving” on people one minute and “hating” them the other minute. It’s all about what the crowd wants.

  19. Hoarding remains the #1 acute threat to our supply of ammunition. I love TTAG and I read it all day but please stop promoting a run on guns/ammo/normal-capacity magazines at every drop of a hat in the political arena.

    • Can you tell me where in this article TTAG promoted anything? All RF did was ask a question. See that curlicue thingy at the end of the sentence, like right here? It’s a question mark. It does not signify a declarative sentence.

  20. With the fear of firearms freedom evisceration taking center stage amongst The People of the Gun, will they rush to gun stores to stock-up on ammo and guns?

    Why not. It’s as good an excuse as any.

  21. Nope, already over the course of time have amassed a good supply of ammo, anytime I shoot some have been immediately replacing whatever caliber I shot. Was considering adding a Ruger .357 LCR to complete current collection of LCRs but was a want, not a need, so can wait for a while.

  22. Maybe a couple of those plastic lowers Jeremy tested and I do need a few 15rnd 6.8 mags. I am waiting to see how the MDRs and RDBs shake out before my next rifle purchase.

    • I’ve had good luck with the Tennessee Arms hybrid polymer lowers. They’re reinforced with brass in a few areas, and they’re pretty cheap shipped. Only issue is trigger/hammer pins wandering, but the ones on ebay with the screw on each end (and a bit of loctite blue) keep that from happening. They’ll laser engrave them (ish) with whatever you want also.

  23. I was in Cabelas yesterday and the place was packed. I don’t even think there is any haggling on price- people just pay whatever they ask. Don’t know if it was Scalia-related or not.

    They had 20 rounds of 5.56 for $7, and I got a steal on 10mm. 200 rounds of Sig Sauer for $100. Sure, it was only 620 ft/lb ammo and not the Buffalo Bore 720 ft/lb, but it’ll reload just fine.

  25. What difference does it really make right now though? I mean for all intents and purposes, it just means for the time being that the liberal states will continue to do their gun control as they please. Heller and MacDonald certainly haven’t stopped them. If the Supreme Court in Heller had ruled that the Second only protects a right to arms in a state militia, would anything really be all that different? Assault weapons bans, microstamping, etc…have all thus far been upheld by various courts.

    And we don’t even know for sure whether with Scalia that the Court would have struck down an assault weapons ban because Roberts and/or Kennedy might have ruled in favor of it.

    That said, always buy ammo and guns, but I wouldn’t panic buy right now. The major fight will be in preventing future gun control laws. If you are not a member of the NRA, now’s a time to join. Not because you agree with them 100% and yes they are a pain-in-the-rear with calling for $$$, but in terms of defending gun rights at the federal level at least, there’s no one better.

    • Roberts and/or Kennedy might have ruled in favor of it.

      My money would be on Kennedy to turn tail. My money would be on Roberts to protect us from Kennedy by voting to deny cert, which also would protect the Court from further criticism.

      But if SCOTUS did grant cert against Robert’s wishes, I think that he would hold steady. Anyway, that’s my take.

  26. Nope, I’ve been stocking up for quite some time and I’ll keep doing so until I don’t think I need to anymore. Slow and steady, it’s amazing how it builds up. If stuff like this causes you to panic, you need to rethink your firearms and ammo strategy. You don’t buy a fire extinguisher after your house is on fire do you?

  27. “Question of the Day; Will Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s Death Trigger Another Gun Sales Surge?”

    Yes.

    We know where this administration stands on citizens owning guns, and that it is dead set of advancing that agenda by any means available … so they have said in many ways, in many forums, via many proxies, allied congresscritters, spokesthings, and the POTUS himself.

    The vacancy caused by Scalia’s death provides another means. Some folks will just now get the hint, and stock up. Some folks will stock up because they calculate that with this new means at the President’s disposal, maybe now, yes, he can.

  28. I don’t really see the need as I’ve been paying attention for years now. New gun owners might stockpile though.

    The real question is, whatever you have, would you voluntarily surrender it? If the left is successful, confiscation is really the next logical step.

    • How, I wonder.

      My county sheriff won’t allow it.

      By the time it took Federal LE to sweep through one state, the ones at the backside would already be re-armed.

      Send in the military? Good luck with that.

  30. Buy and Cache as many as you can afford! that way you can turn one in in complianc, be mister compliant, then go VC on them!

  32. Don’t be silly, that’s not possible. We haven’t finished the last one yet, I have guns on order and haven’t gotten around to ordering all the ammo I want, or buying a safe. After I finish all that, I’ll worry about the question of *another* buying panic.

  33. The GOP thinks they have the presidency in the bag…nothing could be further from the truth. After 45 years of watching this country slide, I can say we’re sliding towards the abyss. No one wants to work, democrats importing illegals and the GOP wants more immigration chucking residents off the workforce.

    ITS OVER. The country as we know it is done. The Constitution to be deconstructed by executive order for no other purpose that to keep the DNC or GOP in power. For the last 40 years both parties systematically empowered the Executive which now either bypasses Congress via regulation or support of the GOP. Now the THIRD branch will remove natural rights with a stroke of a pen.

    Civil war…nope just a mind numbing que for handouts until this government screws business so bad, every company pulls stakes, gives the finger and leaves the country. No doubt they’ll be taxed when they leave.

    Oh yeah forgot…to the question. No I’m not buying guns or ammo.

  35. Probably not yet. Everyone knows that even if Obummer selected a new justice and the republicans confirmed the selection, a case would have to come before the court. Now if Obummer selects an anti-gun justice and the person is confirmed and case is before the court, well then let the games begin! Shelves of at risk items are going to disappear like jelly doughnuts off Chris Christies desk.

  36. I’ve got a couple of firearms I want to purchase, and Scalia’s passing has most definitely sped up my time frame for buying them.

  37. It is already too late, the unknown is exactly when the collapse happens. I expect soon.

    I hope the winners can make USA great again.

  38. Why YES of course. Even IF(and it’s a big if) everything works out for gun rights and SCOTUS appointment we will never replace Scalia. An absolute giant surrounded by lightweights(left & right-especially left). Don’t forget who was smack dab in the middle of the fight for gun rights-TED CRUZ. I’d be ecstatic if he joined the supremes…

  39. Yes. It always does. Some people love to panic. Others have lived through the 1986 Act, the 1989 prohibition, the 1994 ban, and can see just how easy it is for the wrong Congress, the wrong President and the wrong Supreme Court to permanently alter a fundamental freedom forever.

    Realistically, there aren’t any pending gun cases of any significance right now, so there is still some time. But it is an election year, there’s a lot of pressure everywhere and the Republicans are still scattered and weak on their platforms, so anything can happen.

    The bottom line is: if an anti-gun justice is appointed, then there is no safety anymore. Congress can pass a confiscatory law, Heller can be overturned on the thinnest pretext, and this President would deploy every government agency to effectuate the grab before his term is up. The threat is real, if still somewhat remote.

    So, yes. People will buy the scary black rifles with high capacity everythings now just in case. It’s not like they’re earning interest in their savings accounts, after all.

  40. No. I’m too old and well armed to be paniced into anything. Impulse buying on the other hand, is why I don’t go near gun shops but rarely.

  42. There you go again (said in my best Ronald Reagan voice).
    Why do you keep insisting on trying to incite panic? I don’t get it. What are you trying to accomplish?

    • Run chicken little RUN!!! It’s good for business. Gotta get as much as they can before a possible GOP pres comes along and puts to rest the fear mongering for awhile. But, I won’t put it past some to try and develop a BS panic focused suddenly on anti gun conservatives.

  44. I hope not. Have some faith. When the new GOP president gets into office and appoints a “good” judge, then maybe prices will actually start to fall. I’m waiting until then.

  45. There will be isolated panic buying. The O will attempt an appointment. The R’s will put up a fight. The D’s will call them all racist, or bigots, or both, because the appointment will be a woman, or minority, or both.

    And even if the appointment isn’t a minority or women, the D’s will still call the R’s racist, or bigots, or both. The R’s will fight, somewhat. But eventually will be outmatched in political ruthlessness, giving up (aka reaching a bipartisan compromise) due to the media and political race/misogyny card #WhiteMaleGuilt.

    The people will see the writing on the wall – panic buying will surpass the AWB ’13 levels. The establishment R’s will continue to distance themselves from their base and solidify their station as the new Socialist Lite party. More truely conservatives voters will be pushed violently towards the Cruz and Trump “phenomenon.”

    The D’s will continue their assault on Liberty and America, all the while, not realizing they are pushing moderate R’s toward the Cruz and Trump types. The establishment RINO’s will continue to be dumbfounded, clueless, and behind the eight ball – nothing new.

    Hopefully, all culminating to a Cruz and/or Trump presidency. But unfortunately, it could divide the R’s too much, which will hand the election over to the Bern, and his hordes of “gimme mah free gov’t sh*t” Commie constituency.

    This will do one of two things, either I would be fine with: it helps turn the tide of regressive anti-Constitutional policies, or it will help further the inevitable collapse of America via economic realities and unchecked immigration.

    And, if and when, America does fall the barbarians will be waiting at the gates, or lack there of, rather – just like Rome. And it will be put up or shut up time for POTG.

    But, f*ck – what the hell do I know…

    Man, I would love to dig up Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt to kick them in the balls.

    • RockOnHellChild,

      As far as I can determine, you just typed the MOST ACCURATE statement I have ever seen regarding our current political landscape. I am going to print this, stick it up on my wall, and see how much future events match your predictions. Something tells me future events are going to match your statement to a “T”.

      • Feel free to plagiarize, at will. Just make sure to correct my grammatical errors – I’m not much of a proofreader – too busy, and frankly, too lazy to care.

        Hell, I am so many Scotch and Ginger Ale’s in, at this point, it is not likely I remember writing this tomorrow, or at least, not until my next Scotch induced Nostradamus like vision of the future.

  46. I doubt the panic will start until:

    1. Obama actually gets a nominee appointed and confirmed OR

    2. The next actual threat of a ban, knowing that SCOTUS will no longer side with us.

    That, or it’ll just wait until the day after the election if it goes the wrong way.

    • We haven’t been sure where SCOTUS would go already. Kennedy is not a reliable vote, and we have been fortunate they haven’t heard more pivotal cases since Heller/DC

  47. I have 2 9mms, an AR spec’d out the way I want it, and a growing stash of ammo, tools, and oil. I’ve got everything I’d need short-term, but I’d like a shotgun, a lever action, or even an AR-10 building project long-term. “Long-term” might be taking on a new meaning though. Stocking up on ammo though, that’s for sure.

    • Save the lever gun and the shotty for later. Hillary wants to mirror Australia, and those are legal there.

  48. Scalia’s passing will have no effect on me, and as for gun rights, not for at least a year, since the court is done granting cert this session.

    What WILL change for me is that there are three bills pending in the California Legislature seeking to ban ARs in one way or another. Two are virtually identical, one in the Senate and on in the House, that would ban the “Bullet Button” on guns sold after a certain date, thus requiring all ARs and AKs to have internally fixed magazines, and further require registration of all existing rifles and pistols as “assault weapons.” This bill would only apply to rifles with a pistol grip. The third bill would ban ALL semiauto rifles that do not have fixed mags, and would thus encompass M! Garand and the M! Carbine, as well as a multitude of other historical semiauto rifles and probably a bunch of semi-auto hunting rifles with three to five shot magazines. To make matters worse, as recently reported here, Lt. Governor Newsome is circulating a petition for signature that would add an ammo bill to the ballot, a bill that would require expensive licensing of both vendors and buyers, require all transactions to be face to face, and require an instant NICS check for every transaction, as well as record keeping requirements. So I have on my list this year more ammo while the prices remain reasonable and an M1 Carbine (such as I have wanted since I was a kid).

  51. It should cause a rush but it won’t. Most people don’t pay attention. They have no idea who he was or what he did to protect their rights.

    As for it causing me to increase what I buy, it will not. I have been using all extra money that I have for the last 12 months to stockpile. Around November I will be taking my excess harvest to market and won’t think twice to charging some guy 3-4 times what I paid because he didn’t plan ahead. All those months without going without a new pair a jeans will be worth it. LOL

  52. In a word, yes.
    I’ll be looking for the TTAG stats geeks to download the FBI background check numbers after this long weekend, compared to last year.

  53. More than likely there will be a spike, but not like the one that happens when the administration gets it’s nominee after Mitch McConnell talks tough while he rolls out the red carpet.

    Fellas, I’ve said before, and I’ll keep saying it, get a plate carrier with plates, get a plastic wondernine, and a 5.56 that takes NATO mags. And then start training wearing them. Go on hikes wearing them. Weight a pipe to simulate your rifle and take it with you if the fuzz will be a problem. Do burpees wearing it all. In the next five years this will be over one way or the other, and whoever lands in the Oval office in November will not be able to fix anything well enough to stop it.

  54. I don’t really have room left for anything big in my safes, though I’ve got an AK pistol on layaway & I’m eyeballing a 1908 Colt Vest Pocket… May pick up an AK drum mag or some 17 HMR, but I’m pretty much stocked up on everything I need. Being a reloader helps.

  55. AN UPDATE: Just out of curiosity, I made a swing by the local Walmart this morning (Monday, Feb. 15). New signs up in the ammo section stating a three-box limit, all ammo hits the shelves at 7:30 am the day after it is received, and no .22LR is available right now. All signs put up Sunday afternoon. The stock of the most popular calibers (9m, .40, .45, 5.56, .223) were all cleaned out. The clerk on duty talked about a pretty significant run of buyers this morning at 7:30 am.

    Immediately walked out and called my son, who works in a local sporting goods store with an ammo counter. Same deal – they’ve had a rush on since Saturday evening.

    Sad to say that the panic buying seems to be happening in my neighborhood. I suspect those buyers will kick themselves in a few weeks, but for now it seems to be happening locally. Hope the folks are smarter where you live.

  56. If there is a threat to the 2nd amendment it will come in the form of a liberal Supreme Court. Obama has been emasculated by a republication controlled house and senate. Perhaps we need two separate countries after all. One for all those who think they can dictate the freedoms of others and one for those that know that freedom was a hard fought right that cannot be infringed. We are a shadow of the freedoms that our founding fathers died for. It is time for Americans to draw the line, free states and non-free states. The only thing that will work is for the United States to be dived into liberal and conservative regions. To live in the conservative part of the real United States you have to work, pay taxes, serve the people at some point in time in your life, and not be a criminal. All of those that want to take our guns, our ammo, our basic rights, they can go life in their utopia region with all the scum bags that do not adhere to basic conservative beliefs. The folks that wrote the bill of rights and the constitution were conservatives. Try and touch the 2nd amendment and you will see a run on guns and ammo like you have never even seen before…also, beware of those that will defend the 2nd with their lives…there are millions of us. What part of “shall not be infringed” do I need to translate for you?

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