I always find it amusing that, despite President Obama’s copious command-and-control efforts to stimulate both the economy at large and his politically-preferred pet industries (“green energy” springs to mind), all of which have all meandered along miserably, he hasn’t managed to even remotely stymie the one industry that so many liberals would like to see eliminated altogether. In 2008, in anticipation of Barack Obama’s election, gun sales started to surge — and it looks like the prospect of a second Obama term has only fueled that trend. Via InfoWars:

“People are definitely scared of a president who has voted when he was a senator against guns,” Anthony Bouchard, director of the Wyoming Gun Owners Association in Cheyenne told the Wyoming Star Tribune. “[If Obama gets re-elected] he’s in a lame-duck session and he can do the things he wants to do. That’s what we’re afraid of.”

Irvin Walker, owner of Triggers Gun Shop in Mills, called Obama, “the best gun salesmen we’ve had,” and said he was expecting another wave of customers after November 6 if Obama defeats Mitt Romney, despite the fact that sales are already riding high. …

Despite prolonged economic turmoil, gun sales have bucked the trend, with both Ruger and Smith & Wesson operating at maximum capacity and struggling to keep up with demand.

With Ruger’s sales up 86 percent since Obama took office, the company’s previous quarter sales demolished all expectations, with sales totaling $118 million dollars. …

Slavo highlights the graphs below which depict how soaring gun sales are closely related with the election season.

I actually think that there’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing going on here, and that, along with other factors, the rising cultural acceptability of gun ownership, concealed carry permits, recreational shooting, etcetera is helping to fuel along gun sales (huzzah!) — but there can be no doubt that a pervasive fear of big, intrusive, too-powerful government is a legitimate component of what’s lately motivating people to get themselves to the gun store and the shooting range. Just chalk it up to “bitter clingers” doing what they do best, I s’pose: Bitterly clinging. ‘Murika.