Oregon gun sales spike after deadly shootings
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TUALATIN, Ore. – Gun sales are up in Oregon.
Oregon State Police reported more than 32,000 background checks on potential gun owners from Dec. 14 through Jan. 3. That’s more than double the number from the same period a year ago.
Many of those new gun owners are signing up for safety classes.
Ryan Tuttle, owner of Threat Dynamics in Tualatin, Ore., said so many people called after the shootings at the Clackamas Town Center and in Newtown, Conn., he doubled the number of safety classes at his business.
“That’s definitely unheard of,” Tuttle said. “It’s certainly the first time we’ve had that influx.”
Kelly Holdiman used Facebook to get some of his friends together to take a gun safety class at Threat Dynamics on Saturday.
“A lot of people were saying we want to get a gun to help protect my family and my friends,” said Holdiman. “Well, do it responsibly. This is a way to do it responsibly.”
Holdiman, who owns a magazine about off-roading, said he noticed the trend after the deadly shootings.
“Instead of everybody running amok with guns, it’s a way to show how to treat guns with respect and properly carry them in your community,” said Holdiman.
Tuttle said his gun shop is almost sold out of weapons, and all January classes are full.
“I was concerned they weren’t going to take it to the next level and get the training necessary. That’s why we ramped up and structured our class training,” said Tuttle.
"Kelly Holdiman used Facebook to get some of his friends together to take a gun safety class at Threat Dynamics on Saturday."
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I highly recommend Threat Dynamics type of classes. Not only are they very informative and comforting in the sense that you learn that there's more in the gun community than pistol ninjas, gangsters and hillbillies, but, they're a lot of fun. You don't need to own a firearm.
OK... I want one - just ONE - of these "let's ban all guns and all our troubles will magically vanish" zealots to explain to me HOW, exactly, they intend to physically extricate the guns from the hands of the criminals, the gangs, the drug cartels, and all other people who should not have them, but DO have them... Â Let's hear your PHYSICAL PROCESS that will disarm all these people... AND that will prevent MORE guns from coming in across our porous southern border...
Somehow, I think I'll have a l-o-n-g wait before anybody comes up with anything rational / effective... Â
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Sure... let's pick up all the guns owned by the LAW-ABIDING people... and that leaves, guess who? - the CRIMINALS, etc in possession of all the REST of the guns (any body got a wild guess as to how many of those there might be?)... and now the law-abiding people are left with nothing... literally, since the criminals are now free to rob, plunder, and murder at will.
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Now then, since we're only left with the armed criminal element, what then? Â Do our illustrious lawmakers declare martial law, so they can go after the bad guys..? Â Â And just to keep things "peaceful", do our 1st Amendment rights go away next? Â No more freedom of the press or right to assemble / protest? Â Are books, movies and music then censored? Â After all, can't have any one out there spreading around "dangerous" ideas...Â
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We all need to realize, folks, that this isn't just about guns. Â Â It is about the slow erosion of every right we have under our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Â Those rights were given to us for a REASON; that is, to PREVENT the take-over of our country by those who do NOT believe that our country should be governed by we-the-people. Â Â
Think about it...Â
Gun control isn't about safety is about slavery. The same people that advocate taking away our constitutional right to keep and bear arms today are the same who fought to keep slavery prior to the civil war, formed the KKK, and fought against civil rights. When a society is disarmed, the government is no longer our servant, we become theirs. Think about that before you go and happily give up any rights, even those you don't agree with.
 @Ray Williams Wow...you need to evolve your thinking...like the Dem party did many, many years ago.  The Constitution is also in need of evolving along with the tea party folks, like you my friend.  Get a clue.
 @PD1202  @Ray Williams Hahaha Ray Williams owned you and you can't take it! You suck! Just accept it the dems are the opressors!
 @Beergod  @Ray Williams Really?  owned?  Hey moron, I agreed with Ray regarding the PAST...but, today bright one, we all know who the oppressors really are.  You ever watch "A Christmas Story"??  You know that Scut Farkus character...well, remember his sidekick, the little turd Grover Dill....that would be you my friend.  A little sidekick, who claims to be a tough guy....but is a sad little boy.  Thanks for playin.
 @PD1202  @Ray Williams So you're one of those "Living breathing ever changing Constitution" people eh? I suppose you insist that we didn't land on the moon also.
 Every post you deposit here makes you sound more and more like the crazy cat lady down the street.
 @PD1202  @Razor1 Your comments are so inspiring as to make me laugh.
 @Razor1  @PD1202  @Ray Williams Thanks for your brilliant comment...in reality, today the founding fathers would be turning over in their graves listening to all this garbage coming from the righties on this page.
 @Razor1  @PD1202 It is easy to understand the anti-gun, "lets take away our freedom" fear mongering viewpoint of most liberals. You see they are terrified by their perception that violence is increasing (it isn't and hasn't been for 20 years, just ask the FBI) and the fact that it is now legal in most places to carry concealed firearms for personal defense fills most liberals with such anger that they feel its permissible and decent behavior to publish those peoples names. (If they'll publish peoples names who own choose to exercise their constitutional right, then why do they hypocritically oppose so vehemently the publishing of names and address of newly released parolees?) Liberals additional concerns are that they will anger a legal concealed carry permit holder enough to shoot them is groundless. They is tip-toeing right around the edge of the "blood in the streets" fallacy that comes up every time panicky leftists talk about concealed carry. And Ironically it is always the leftists who seem to devolve into angry spit inducing temper tantrums when facing the facts. So become so agitated that I fear that if they did have a gun, they'd pull it out and shoot someone. This, I think, is why leftists hate gun rights so much. Because they know they'd shoot someone when they get angry and assume that everyone is just like them. Well we are not.
 @PD1202 If you are going to waste your time TROLLING, you really should just go hang out at the MSNBC forums or perhaps youtube. Enjoy.
 @Ray Williams Cute...trolling? really?  Just because facts and the Republican party have nothing in common...you call me a troll?  Take a look in the mirror RAY....all of those bright comments you have brought to this conversation are quite boring and actually very childish.  You talk about the past...and hey, guess what..my wife is a history teacher..so, I have a pretty good idea of what happened in the PAST....but, guess what..this is the 21st century...and todays Republicans are yesterdays Democrats.  Do you have that head of yours buried deep in a whole and cannot grasp at what is going on today with your party?  It's quite humorous to read all of your comments, and hatred you gear towards me and other that have a real sense of what is going on today...not back in the 1800's...but today...2013.  And guess what...I'm pro-gun...and Dem who is pro-gun...did that just blow your mind?  I'm done with this conversation.  It's getting old..and I have better things to do.
 @Ray Williams "are the same who fought to keep slavery prior to the civil war" all those people are dead. Their ideological successors switched parties, for reasons that had nothing to do with gun control.
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When the people are the government and the people are apathetic, as they are today, they do not need to be disarmed in order to become servants to the government. Â
 @JTesla Thank you JTesla for your comment. I was referring to the mind set and political philosophy of those who share the same party today as those who held it and fought to keep slavery, formed the KKK, and opposed civil rights. That mind set of yesterday is shared today by the same kind of people. Ironically they seem mostly to be in the same political party and have the same political agenda and ideology. And that should worry everyone. As to their ideological successor switching parties, I feel compelled to remind you that that is a falsity. They are still in the same party. They just want people to believe the other party is at fault.  True evil hides by hiding from history and this latest role reversal game is just that, hiding from history. That is why so many work so hard to re-write history. They have to hide the evil of their past so they can do it all over again.Â
 @PD1202  @Ray Williams  @JTesla I'm not a Republican but whatever you were trying to say applies to you as well.
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Which were Rice and General Powell? KKK, bigots or all-out racists?
@Ray Williams "But like a true liberal, which you are and you know it" So that is your masterful debate skills, labeling and lieing? You would know about "complete fraud" as you have sunk to being totally dishonest.
@Ray Williams You can't get over the fact that I'm not liberal can you? I'm libertarian, so I am probably opposed to more government restrictions than you are. What is really funny though, you can't get over the fact that you didn't know about the Northwest being considered Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin etc. Really, THAT is basic US history. You can still find people calling that region Northwest, but when talking about elections in 1860 people know that is the area being discussed. If you haven't looked it up yet, go ahead, learn about it. You don't have to admit that you didn't "get" it even after I told you about it.
 @JTesla  I know of Michael Lind.and I know he has been labeled as a complete fraud. But hey if that's who you like to read, a proven liar, then by all means don't read Killing Lincon. You might actually learning something from that Number 1 NYT best seller.
 @JTeslaÂ
Hey buddy you can try and cover your mistake with whatever fairytale you want to spin. The fact is, you made yourself out to be a real smart one with your comment. But like a true liberal, which you are and you know it, you are attempting to rewrite history. ROFLMAO.Â
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@Ray Williams For book recommendations: "What Lincoln Believed" by Michael Lind.
@Ray Williams Umm you're going to insult those "who educated" me, and YOU don't know the difference from the Northwest and the Pacific Northwest? The Northwest were states carved from the Northwest Territory... Ohio, Indiana, Michigan... etc. Really, you have just proven your own ignorance, or at least the ignorance of those who failed to educate you.
 @JTesla Back to Basics for the Republican Party by Michael Zak Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past by Bruce Bartlett
 @JTesla  My apologies, I was not directing that specifically at you but rather the tactics you are using. The shut up argument is one that is employed all to often by liberals and people who are so devoid of any debate skills that all they can do when forced to face facts is to fall back on such Saul Alinski tactics.Â
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And I was not calling you stupid, I was saying those who educated you were stupid.
 @JTesla  @Razor1 I laugh at you sir. "a coalition of voters in the Northwest." I hate to break it to you, but the NORTHWEST wasn't part of the USA back in the 1860's. This just proves that you are not reading real history. That or you are just so stupid, pardon me, that you don't know the difference between the Northwest and the Northeast.Â
@Ray Williams What are you talking about? I'm not a liberal, I'm not a Democrat, I'm not a supporter of Obama, and I've never told you to shut up. How about you keep talking, but quit making stuff up. Seriously, those three paragraphs are complete garbage.
 @JTesla The liberal shut up argument has taken on a whole new dimension of aggressiveness since Obamaâs re-election. âShut upâ has become the primary rational behind the liberal agenda when dealing with anyone who disagrees with their plan for America.
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The left wing liberals have been using this shut up tactic for a while now. If you tried to talk about how being lenient on crime would result in our cities becoming heavens for criminals, you were labeled a hater. Shut up. If you pointed out that government was growing to fast and politicians were gaining too much power, you were called a fear mongering TEA Party member. Shut up. If you disagreed with the leftist leaning policies and embraced conservatism you were a fascist. Shut up. When you would bring up how welfare reform, gang violence, and urban crime have decimated our cities, you were called a racist. Shut up. If you stated that you were for the traditional meaning of marriage, you were labeled a homophobe and called vile names all part of being told to shut up. All these labels, and many more, are the lefts way of saying to you, shut up.
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JTesla, I won't shut up. So go TROLL your heart away all day long. I enjoy reading y our comments. I value the chance to exercise my God given ability to laugh at the insane things people like you write. So please, please keep doing it. We all need a good laugh and you sir, provide em with gusto.
@Ray Williams Think about what? You have no idea what my opinion is on the topic. I can tell you one thing, whites in the South have a proud heritage, well at least they are very proud of it. They were Democrats, they are now Republicans. I'm not going to say that modern Republicans are racists, because the people of today should not be judged based on what their parents and grandparents did, but just because they changed parties, it doesn't follow that they changed their ideologies.
 @JTesla Slaves were slaves because they were not allowed to own the means by which to defend themselves. Think about that before you give up any more of your rights and freedoms to the very liberal progressives who fought to keep slavery, then later formed the KKK, and fought against civil rights. These are the same people in the white house and Senate right now who want to take away your gun rights. What next, your freedom?
@Ray Williams And Woodrow Wilson was a racist, as was Lincoln by today's standards. You can "Fact:" all day long, but you are ignoring the switch that did take place starting in the late 60's.
@Ray Williams The switch in the South from being the "Solid South" of Democrats to a solid south of Republicans started in the late 60's, I don't see any of your dates dealing with post-switch. However, your 1964 Civil Rights Act help the South make the move from "Solid South" to Republican South.
 @JTesla  @Razor1 Fact: Lincoln's Vice President, Andrew Johnson, was a strongly pro-Union (but also pro-slavery) Democrat who had been chosen as a compromise running mate to attract Democrats. After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson thwarted Republican efforts in Congress to recognize the civil rights of the freed slaves, and Southern Democrats continued to thwart any such efforts for nearly a century.
@Razor1 Yes, he was a Republican, so what? He won in part by putting together a coalition of voters in the Northwest who wanted a white only west and those in the Northeast who were former Whig's (looking for subsidies, tariffs, government spending on infrastructure etc. As you can see, the Republicans of 1860 were far different from the Republicans of 1980... and even of today.
 @PD1202  @JTesla You know what, when it comes reality, I can safely say that I am here. Your entire comment is so devoid of intellectualism that it defies sanity. Allow me to educate you beyond that 3rd grade level you are so dismally providing us an example of here.Â
Any moron with a half year of 1st grade could research "reality" when it comes to the Democrats and slavery. But allow me to save your tired little mind from having to exert itself.:
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Fact: During the Civil War era, the "Radical Republicans" were given that name because they wanted to not only end slavery but also to endow the freed slaves with full citizenship, equality, and rights.
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Fact: The Ku Klux Klan was originally and primarily an arm of the Southern Democratic Party, and its mission was to terrorize freed slaves and Republicans who sympathized with them.
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Fact: In the 1950s, President Eisenhower, a Republican, integrated the US military and promoted civil rights for minorities. Eisenhower pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1957. One of Eisenhower's primary political opponents on civil rights prior to 1957 was none other than Lyndon Johnson, then the Democratic Senate Majority Leader. LBJ had voted the straight segregationist line until he changed his position and supported the 1957 Act.
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Fact: The historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supported by a higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats in both houses of Congress. In the House, 80 percent of the Republicans and 63 percent of the Democrats voted in favor. In the Senate, 82 percent of the Republicans and 69 percent of the Democrats voted for it.
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Fact: Contrary to popular misconception, the parties never "switched" on racism.
 @PD1202  @Ray Williams  @JTesla Go back and read your history pd1202. Lincoln was a republican. I realize you've been brainwashed by the socialist left wing public school system, and their all out agenda to rewrite history, Please get the facts straight before you comment, or you may end up sounding like an idiot.
 @PD1202  @JTesla If you are going to TROLL, you should go to youtube where your age group hangs out.
 @Ray Williams  @JTesla Are you kidding me??  The Republican party is made up of the KKK, bigots and all out racists...you are living in la la land with these pathetic comments.  The right wing is who we all should fear....you need a reality check.
Gun sales across America Spike, not only Oregon............... The American public has spoke, like it or not............
@STEELHEAD The ignorant has just speaked.
 @MechanicÂ
Yes, I'd say you, the ignorant, just did speak. Thanks for proving that you are as you accuse others of being.
I have turned off my TV, and refuse to even watch the news. There is a reason people need to worry. Even Fox news is in the liberal  hypocritical bed. Do yourself a favor and boycott all this garbage, and arm up people, it's not going to get better. Â
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k1SZurGArxE
@Just Me Not as long as there are those like you who think you need a gun in your hand and another in your pocket at all times.
 @Mechanic  @Just Buy bullets.
 @Mechanic  @Just Um yes, that would be me.  :)
Another great ploy by the Democrats. What better story than gun sales and the possibility of greater gun control laws to take our attention away from the coming economic disaster? Obama's regime has already delivered rising unemployment numbers, extended high fuel prices, and rising first time unemployment applications. Bravo, bravo, Democrats. Keep us arguing among each other, what ever it takes to keep our minds off Obama's failure.
 @last boyscout Remember.....divide and conquer! Â
@last boyscout What better Republican ploy than pretend that someone wants to take your toys away so you can take everyone's eyes off the FACT that the Republicans have done everything possible to sink the economy and block any recovery efforts. The annual deficit you children cry about all the time asolutely ballooned under Bush. When he took over, Clinton left him with a $300 billion a year SURPLUS that was going to reduce the deficit dramatically. But, on the strength of those ridiculous tax cuts (most of which REALLY DO benefit the wealthy the most), two unfunded, mismanaged wars (one of which was totally unnecessary, BTW), unfunded increases in Medicare Rx benefits, and ignoring not only banking regulations but also common sense, tanked the economy. By the time Olbama got into office, the stock market was at 7000, the economy was shedding 600,000 jobs a month, and houses weren't worth spit. And you expect Obama to fix all that in 4 years when Bush had 8 to eff it all up and left with incredible downward momentum in the economy. No matter how much you want to believe that the economic disaster is not the fault of Republicans, it is just not true. And yeah. We need to get a handle on the gun problem in this country. We do have a mental health problem and a society problem, blah, blah, blah, but we sure as hell have a gun problem too. Get your eye back on the ball.,
 @Mechanic 1. Harry Reid has had 32 (thirty two) Republican sponsored Bills, some by-partisan, that were written to aid the economy sitting on his desk, that he alone refuses to allow to come to a vote of the senate. 2. The deficit under Bush grew largely due to two Wars, and the fact that the Democrats controlled the last two years of Bush's spending, where most of it took place, and Clinton's surplus was largely due to the Dot-Com revolution and the Republicans controlling his spending habits. 3. The crumbling of the housing bubble was to no small degree aided by two Democrats, Criss Dodd and Barney Frank whom refused to heed Bush's warnings, and continued to force the banking industry to loan money to individuals for new homes that they had no business buying, and could never afford to keep up the payments. This was done under the auspice that "every one deserves a home of their own". 4. The exact point of the beginning of the economy's nosedive is arguable, but it can definitely be seen to accelerate shortly after Obama won the election, Nov. 7th. 2007.
You right-wingers need to know that Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News, tweated the following recently:
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"When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons?"
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In addition to his european socialist publications running anti-gun stories and omitting stories were guns were used by citizens, he's spoken to Obama at least twice since early December and publicly called for a ban on "automatic weapons"--which, of course, weren't used in ANY of the shootings. The depth of the media conspiracy is profound.
@Playanekes No. No automatic weapons were used. But that is ONLY because Americans came to their senses and made the manufacture, importation, sale, and ownership of machine guns illegal back in the thirties. Remember the movies with people shooting people with Thompson submachine guns? Well, they didn't just make all that up. If machine guns were legal today, the carnage at Aurora, Columbine, Newtown, and on and on would be much worse. Get a grip.
@Playanekes Rupert Mucdoch is a creep, and anyone who follows his rants probably loves Donald Trump.