It seems that “Holy Shit March” is a phrase we can just use for everything in life at this point.
bitterb @bitterb
Tweeted on April 2, 2020
[This was in response to this tweet by Tamara K. @TamSlick which I was seriously considering for a QOTD in it’s own right until bitter topped it:
Almost four million NICS checks in March. That’s a lotta guns.
It’s interesting to see the normalcy bias in action. Six months ago I, in my rational mind, knew something like this was possible but it didn’t feel possible in any reality I might experience. Today, working from home, seldom going to stores, wearing a mask when you do, and wiping down everything that has had recent contact with another human before it comes in the house feels ordinary.—Joe]
What a difference a week makes.
Last Sunday shopping had 1 or 2 people wearing masks. This week had more than 50% in some kind of mask and gloves. The big issue with the home made PPE is they were poorly made or not able to make a correct fit. Sorry Clem, but if you want to wear a face mask the facial hair must go.
This in a population that has had 12 cases in 100K + population. One fatality with an 80+ woman with multiple factors working against her.
Gun club is open but no matches till May. The board will wait to see what Beshear the Younger proclaims at that time.
That is indeed a lot of guns……
These may not all be new guns. But the nice thing is you can put multiple guns on one NICS check. I have done transfers of over twenty firearms on one 4473. So, more than 4 millions guns. Which is great! More guns=less crime! Suck it, Bloomberg!
No way to know but I’d be surprised if more than 10% were used guns. My impression is the sales surge is less sophisticated buyers who I doubt would buy used.
And more dependency on a supply chain that we are actively disrupting (destroying). Of course, that applies to most things we buy. Even manufacturers themselves depend upon a supply chain.
Hopefully, we will be able to restore the supply chain quickly, but there are no guarantees. I now expect our near future to be one of cash chasing what remains in the supply chain.
I’ve long considered such a thing as being ideal for a house. In the “expanded mudroom” you have a combine shower and dog-washing sink/station, so when dirty kids and mutts come in you can hose everyone down before they get into the main house. It would also double great as a hose-down station for a biohazard station, especially if you included a good UV lighting system and tiled or fiberglassed the whole thing for super-easy sterilization. Practical for ordinary use, but really useful in unexpectedly dangerous times, too.
A friend of mine made a nice custom walk-in shower out of Corian. That stuff glues/welds together nicely to make an effectively seamless structure, and it comes in large sheets. Looks pretty, too.
For context:
https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf/view
The preceding months were: Nov 2.6, Dec 2.9, Jan 2.7, Feb 2.8 million.
March of 2019 was 2.6 million.
Roughly 57% above the previous 12-month average.
NSSF has an adjustment protocol that factors some of this out. I forget the details but I am sure it is on their web page.
Actually it’s 3.1 million. Illinois runs NICS checks on FOID and CCW holders every day. Sometimes twice a day. So you have to automatically subtract at least 600,000 from that number.
Not sure if that’s actually in the total, but if it is, then it happens every month, and reduces both numerator and denomination by an equal amount, making the percentage increase even larger. 15/10 is smaller than 11/6, for example. either way, it’s considerably more than a standard deviation above the mean.