American Patriots and Guns .....

With that as a backdrop, I was asked this week if Patriots have an obligation to arm themselves -- to be gun owners, and be proficient at the use of arms. I thought at first the question was rhetorical, but after some consideration, I realize that there are millions of grassroots Patriots who are NOT among the 60 million plus Patriots who are already law-abiding gun owners.

Apparently, the question needs to be addressed, as the answer may not be as obvious to some folks as it should be. By way of responding to this question, let me first briefly reiterate the historical and enduring case for gun ownership, which is as relevant today and tomorrow as it was at the dawn of our national founding.

Did massive gun sales crash the FBI’s background checking system? .....

 That decline was not seen in one very specific area of the retail business, gun sales. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), gun sales — based on Black Friday background checks — set a new record, jumping by 20%. The surge in gun sales was so great that many retailers reported extended wait times in order to get applications processed by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

A new single-day record for point-of-sale background checks was established on Black Friday, November 23, when 154,873 were conducted by the FBI.