The Second Amendment IS Our Homeland Security !
The Second Amendment IS Our EQUAL RIGHTS Amendment!

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Rise in Gun Sales Reflects Post-Attack Fears
http://www.dojgov.net/2ndAmendment-01.htm
By AL BAKER NY Times

December 16, 2001 – Since Sept. 16, more Americans are taking what many
consider to be the most personal step toward feeling safer: arming
themselves

Gun and ammunition sales across the country have risen sharply since Sept.
11 as more Americans take what many consider to be the most personal step
toward feeling safer: arming themselves.

According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, surveys by
firearms associations and anecdotal evidence from storefront gun shops and
distributors from Arizona to Florida to Lower Manhattan, the jump in weapons
sales followed quickly on the first jarring images of the terrorist attacks.

The rise was anywhere from 9 percent to nearly 22 percent during September,
October and November, according to F.B.I. statistics on background checks
for purchases. The total peaked in October, at 1,029,691.

Those in the gun industry say a range of firearms have been purchased, from
high-priced handguns small enough to fit inside a purse to shotguns and
assault rifles that can be leaned against a wall inside a clothes closet.
And, they say, there has been a steady stream of serious- minded first-time
buyers.

“Sept. 11, like other catastrophes, makes people panic, makes them fearful,
makes them want to protect themselves and their families against the enemy,
who, in this case, is hard to identify,” said James Alan Fox, Lipman
professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston.

“People may say, `Let Tom Ridge watch out for our shores. I’ll watch out
for my doors,”’ he added.

To many in and out of law enforcement, such a proliferation of deadly
weapons is unsettling, even as scores of new gun owners argue that their
right to bear arms is worth exercising to gain a feeling of personal
security in troubled times.

“We are always concerned with the overall numbers of guns that are
available and out on the street making things unmanageable for law
enforcement,” said William B. Berger, the police chief of North Miami
Beach, Fla., who is president of the International Association of Chiefs of
Police, the nation’s oldest and largest group of law enforcement executives,
with 19,000 members worldwide

Nevertheless, guns are being bought with the feeling that they will make the
buyer safer. Scott Abraham, a Long Island investment broker in his 30′s,
said he never dreamed of buying a gun until Sept. 11. Last month he bought a
Mossberg shotgun because “I don’t want to be caught shorthanded,” and made
a spot to hide it in his house. Thomas M. Iasso, 53, a former police officer
who stopped carrying a gun two years ago, bought a .40-caliber Glock after
the terrorist attacks – and carries it.

“You can’t sit there and tell me you can protect me anymore because you
can’t,” Mr. Iasso said, explaining his purchase.