Religion, gun combination not far fetched

It can’t be a bad thing, this run on guns we’re hearing about.

Gun stores all over the country — including locally — have reported record sales, with resulting shortages of firearms and ammunition, since the Nov. 4 election, when Americans voted for political revolution.

It makes sense. We live in a time where big businesses are dropping like flies. We live in a time of big government gone wild, spending as if there is no limit and the money means nothing. We’re told the ice will all melt, the oceans will rise and hurricanes will ravage our coasts with increasing frequency.

In times like these, guns and religion seem more sensible than ever. Even President-elect Barack Obama understands the desire for guns and God, as he so famously stated last April.

Explaining his empathy for small towns in Pennsylvania and the Midwest, where people have suffered economic hardship and uncertainty for decades, he said: “And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigration sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustration.”

It’s hard to argue with much of that. Some people do lash out at immigrants, or minorities, or the homeless, or the country’s trade policies when their own lives are difficult and scary. And many people embrace religion and guns.

The unfortunate part of Obama’s statement involved his lumping together of those who would blame immigrants and “people who aren’t like them” with people who cling to religion and guns. Millions of religious people and gun owners fear neither immigrants, nor minorities, nor free trade.

Religion and guns — unlike primitive and unfounded fears — are rational. Both provide legitimate forms of aid, protection and comfort during uncertain times. Both put the user in control.

So political leaders and the media should be pleased by the fact that Americans are engaged in a gun-buying frenzy.

Guns have kept this great country peaceful and free for more than 200 years. Guns have won our independence and freed slaves. They are great investments, almost always appreciating in value, and they provide a means of safety in an instable world.

A sudden run on religion couldn’t hurt, either.