Worst kind of economic stimulus

Gun control, as the old joke goes, means using both hands. But America’s gun owners are not in a laughing mood these days.

The election of President Barack Obama and two-straight blue-tide elections have given the Democratic Party firm control of the executive and legislative branches of government. The fear is that the Democrats will try to push through new gun control legislation, ban certain types of weapons and ammunition and even impose new taxes.

The Associated Press reported last week about the booming sales of bullets as people stock up in anticipation of future bans, restrictions and taxes.

“We are working overtime and still can’t keep up with the demand,” Al Russo, a spokesman for Madison, N.C.,-based Remington Arms Co., told the AP. “We’ve got to add a fourth shift and go 24-7. It’s a phenomenon that I have not seen before in my 30 years in the business.”

One Louisiana man called it “the Obama effect,” a regularly occurring response to whenever Democrats are elected in large numbers.

The gun owners have a point, up to a point.

Democrats, as a group, are far more likely to support gun control legislation than Republicans, in part because of the party’s strength in urban areas with more street crime, and in part because the Democrats are far more willing to try to legislate something like firearms.

While the president hasn’t proposed any specific gun control legislation, it’s also true that if every statement he’s ever made, every bill he’s ever supported and every position he’s ever taken during his entire political career were taken as a whole and proposed as legislation — which is not being done — then the gun owners would have something to fear.

But that’s not happening, for a couple of reasons. The Democrats have focused their attention on the economy. Also, Obama has moderated his views on these issues over the years. As a lawyer by training, he appears to understand the Second Amendment’s place in law, not as something to pay lip service to, but as one of the fundamental rights all Americans enjoy.

Finally, as the Democrats have won more seats in Congress, they have done it by winning seats in conservative districts. It’s no surprise that Rep. Tom Perriello months ago came out against a revival of the “assault weapons” ban.

Bullet makers are enjoying an economic stimulus that’s driven by fear. While it’s true that the winds of political change could one day blow against the Second Amendment on Capitol Hill, today that’s just not the case. It’s always worth watching, but today, there’s nothing to see.