Santa Claus Brings Guns for Christmas

It is a pity that Charlton Heston is dead. The Herculean actor, who chaired the National Rifle Association between 1998 and 2003, would have been happy to see how his fellow countrymen are making firearms into one of the main Christmas presents of 2011.

Santa Claus is coming with his sack full of artillery. This week, a great number of local TV channels across the United States are including among their news the spectacular increase in the sale of pistols, revolvers, rifles and submachine guns as presents this Christmas, even for kids.

Let’s start in Bakersfield, Calif. KGET, a local channel affiliated with NBC is announcing that “A different kind of present is triggering people’s interest this holiday season. Gun sales are up at outdoor shops around Bakersfield. Be careful when you check those stockings by the fireplace this year because there could be a pistol inside.”

In the KGET report, Jennifer McKenna of Second Amendment Sports declares that the sale of guns has made a 25 percent increase this season in comparison with the same period of 2010. In Bakersfield there are affordable products with prices that range from $140 to $3,000.

Let’s move on to the other extreme of the U.S. According to WDBJ.7, in Roanoke, Va., business is thriving. Paul Hylton, who owns the gunsmith’s Bryansteens, explains to the WDBJ.7 reporter that giving guns at Christmas is “a kind of a tradition” in Virginia and admits that sales are going particularly well this year. The newest thing, Hylton points out, is that a large number of women are purchasing them.

It must be noted that the FBI did already suspect something. Back in November, it had to check some 1.5 million police and criminal records of people who intended to purchase guns soon. That figure represents a 30 percent increase compared to the same month in 2010. The flood of requests was particularly intense on Black Friday, the day that marks the beginning of the Christmas sales season.

Santa is also traveling to the state of New York with a host of junk and powder. “There are no stats for New York yet, but gun shops will tell you it’s like nothing they’ve seen before,” YNN reports. Frank Tybush of B&J Guns says, “We have been incredibly busy. It’s going to be a record fall for us. Before, it was mostly hunters. Now we’re seeing young professionals, people starting families. And women coming in, wanting to find out about guns and not just handguns, but shotguns.”

Defeated by both communism and bin Laden, is America — with the rifle, the Bible and the Tea Party — ready to fight against an imminent Martian invasion? Does it trust its security forces despite a decrease in crime in 2011 which can be precisely attributed to a greater presence of police activity? YNN asks Tom King, the chairman of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, about the reasons why people are taking advantage of these days to conscientiously purchase guns. His reply is that it is due to “The concerns over the 2012 election, perhaps a shaky economy and the usual fear of more gun laws in the future.”

In Kansas, Eyewitness News is telling the same joke as Californian KGET: “This Christmas, stockings should be hung by the chimney with extra care, because there might be an assault weapon inside.” According to that Kansas TV channel, “Holiday gun sales are setting records this year, according to national indicators and firearm dealers, with shoppers snapping up Colts and AR-15s.” A spokesperson from Beretta USA confirms that their sales have shown a 10 percent increase during the fourth quarter of this year compared to the same quarter in 2010.

Ah, but all of this is perfectly legal. As everyone knows, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution establishes the right of individuals to bear firearms. According to several surveys, 45 percent of American homes own one or more guns. The controversies from the Clinton years about the need to restrict this right have diminished in the 21st century, which is mainly due to fear aroused by 9/11. Last October, a Gallup survey revealed that those in favor of that ban are a minority now more than ever.

Let’s move on to fiction. It is worth remembering that although old Philip Marlowe did not like Christmas, this season has been widely exploited in literature and film noir. Specifically, the character of the outlaw dressed up as Santa Claus is a classic aspect within American cinema and television. Canadian Daryl Duke improved this effective resource in his movie “The Silent Partner.” There, Elliot Gould played a clerk that comes to know by chance that an armed robber dressed up as Santa Claus (Christopher Plummer) is planning to rob the bank. Gould decides then to take all the money in advance, and leave Santa the gunman to deal with the problem. Shrewd, isn’t it?