These Are Troubling Times - Be Careful, Cautious and Focused

A Silent Indicator of Where America Is Headed Politically

6/13/2020 - Loyd Pettegrew Townhall.com

Editor's note: This column was co-authored by Jim McCoy.

Progressives inhabiting the mainstream media, the Democratic Party and Hollywood continue to herald how the Covid-19 virus, tainted economy, condemnation from China, the racist police beating of innocent demonstrators, and the disunifying editorial from four star General James “Chaos” Mattis about our president, are harbingers of doom for the Trump administration and Republican candidates come election time. There is at least one strong indicator that may prove these liberal naysayers wrong about the effects the current schiff-storm may have at the ballot box in November. 

John R. Lott, Jr. wrote in National Review that the “Police have stopped responding to many 911 calls, and massive numbers of inmates are being released early from prison.” During the past 14 days people have been rioting and vandalizing in the streets of America, including unlikely places like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, Fifth Avenue in New York City and even Whitefish, Montana. From Florida to Utah and elsewhere around the country, something very interesting is happening in gun stores. Most gun stores receive new product orders on Friday afternoons. For the past month people have been lining up outside gun stores to purchase new weapons and ammunition first thing Saturday morning. Many, many more citizens are purchasing guns and ammo online, provided they have a carry permit, and the online seller then ships the purchase to the gun store of their choice. Delvin Brown, of USA Today, recently detailed this phenomenon of gun purchases by many citizens, "Americans are loading up on guns and ammo in the wake of race riots."

In Polk County, Florida Sheriff Judd Grady praised peaceful protesters but then addressed anyone who may threaten criminal conduct during demonstrations. He said, “Because the people of Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns, and they're going to be in their homes tonight with their guns loaded, and if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I'm highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns. So, leave the community alone."

After a day of rioting and destruction of private property on May, 30th, Utah Governor Gary Herbert activated 200 National Guard members to help maintain the peace. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall issued a curfew for the entire city for the rest of the day. Armored police vehicles were seen on city streets after the issuance of the curfew. There was widespread acceptance of these protective policies among all but our restless and woke youth.  According to a Deseret News article in Fall of 2019, gun sales in Utah had already increased 80% over the last decade. 

If gun sales are any indication of how people might vote in the 2020 Election, there is good reason for liberals and social progressives to be concerned. With calls for defunding police departments and thuggish “Black Lives Matter” protests, many citizens, out of the immediate chaos of these events, are assessing what America’s future may look like in the light of the last three weeks. This large uptick in the purchase of guns and ammo would suggest those quietly acquiescing to looters, those destroying property and assaulting innocent citizens, even killing police officers to court political approbation, are not highly esteemed by normal Americans. 

The Mainstream Media, Democrats, and leftists may try to characterize those buying guns and ammo as white supremacists, Klansmen, or part of the 10-15 percent of the population that Joe Biden refers to as bad people.

They would be wrong. Citizens purchasing guns and ammunition are from all backgrounds, many are professional women. They are also store and homeowners, physicians, businesspeople and attorneys. There are even a few academics in this vast group. They want to protect their property and their families when law and order show signs of breaking down. They have seen what real civil chaos looks like, especially in cities and states hued blue, on their televisions and smart phones and they want no part in it.

Every media story that paints leftist portraits of all police, national guard and Secret Service agents trying to protect law-abiding citizens as racist murderers of innocent black people while police cars are burned, stores and restaurants looted and destroyed, may engender many more votes against such glaring hypocrisy. Countless citizens on the sidelines observing such mayhem, don’t have bully pulpits from which to call rubbish on conservative denouncements. But if counting gun sales is akin to reading tea leaves, there is a good probability they will bide their time until November 3^rd and vote against candidates who support this mayhem.

As one of us has written in these pages, you simply can’t believe most of the political polling that transpires these days. Up until the morning of the election we will be indoctrinated to believe that the polls prove that Joe Biden and his seven dwarfs of progressivism have a distinct, if not overwhelming, election lead.

Back in 2017, a study by Pew Research shows that 41% of Republicans, 16% of Democrats and 38% of Independents have a gun in their home. After the recent Covid-19 epidemic and the George Floyd riots, that number is likely much, much higher. As the NRA’s Charles Cooke argued recently, freedom is an issue that is stirring most Americans. There are thousands of protestors. There are many millions who watch in abhorrence.

You are simply not paying attention or stuck in progressive La-La land if you believe this won’t make a decisive difference come November 3^rd.