Unintended Consequences at the Sporting Goods Store: The Prez-elect is Arming the Public

So the older kid and I are at the sporting goods store to get some supplies and ammo for the family AR-15 (the civilian version of the military M-16... popular varmint gun out here as ranchers can take out coyotes at considerable range).

Turns out that .223 ammo, cleaning gear - heck, AR-15s themselves - are in short supply. There's been a "panic buy up" of all weapons and ammo that might come under any kind of "assault weapon ban." Just the hint of a 2nd Amendment-hostile administration is enough to get the guns flying off the racks.

This is a good example of the law of unintended consequences. The mere hint of "assault weapon control" (based on what a gun looks like, rather than any statistical association of a particular weapon with real crime) is actually putting more of these weapons into private hands.