Americans Are Frantically Buying Military Gear Before The Election

BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 5 months ago

Bloomberg.

Conflict is on America’s streets in 2020, and “tactical apparel” has become a lifestyle industry serving militarized law-enforcement agents and the freelance gunmen who emulate them. Less than two weeks before Election Day, orders are rolling in. Since last year, online purchases have driven a 20-fold jump in sales of goods like the $220 CM-6M gas mask — resistant to bean-bag rounds — for Mira Safety of Austin, Texas. “It doesn’t matter who gets elected,” founder Roman Zrazhevskiy said of his new customers. “They think that no matter who wins, Biden or Trump, there are going to be people who are upset about the result.”

Not long ago — perhaps a generation — dressing like you’re going to war was for the veteran who never quite made it back from Vietnam or the angry young men who obsessed over gas masks and combat boots at the military surplus store. (Every American town seemed to have one, and only one.) A shift became apparent with this spring’s Black Lives Matter protests and bitterly resented pandemic lockdowns. Now the gear is everywhere, from camouflage-clad antifa supporters to right-wing extremists who appeared at Michigan’s capitol even after men were arrested in a plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

In some suburban and rural settings, it’s become everyday wear. A retail chain called 5.11 Tactical, which traces its roots to a friend of President Donald Trump’s adult sons, is even trying to turn the survivalist look into a fashionable national brand. It’s racking up annual sales of almost $400 million with stores in places including Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Across the country, gun and ammunition sales have surged as well.

And this is news?  I don’t think these writers have ever even visited the South.

5.11 makes good gear.  And America knows something important about the state of affairs of its people and government.

The bureaucratic state wants to destroy the middle class, and Antifa/BLM and many millions more want you in camps.

But the picture at Bloomberg has a guy wearing NODS equipment.  Not many people can afford good NODS.  Most people are going to be cash-limited to firearms and ammunition, and the next step is going to be med kits, tactical gear (like holsters, battle belts, etc.), and then the next step will be tactical vests and body armor.

And most people can only afford the first steps, which is why we see the rush on firearms and ammunition.


Comments

  1. On October 25, 2020 at 7:29 pm, Jaque said:

    Writers for these rags never leave the safety of their NYC apartments, and so they are dumbfounded when they come accross a Military Surplus Store ad on the internet. While there are far fewer actual local Army Surplus Stores than there once was there are some regional giants that have a web presence and do mail order. We can even buy from overseas surplus stores stuff not available in the states.

    These are the same idiot writers that have a fit over a 15 yr old hunting rabbits, or why anyone needs a thousand rnds of ammo, or are afraid to touch an unloaded gun. They haven’t a clue where their food comes from or how to drive a nail. But theres one good thing about them. Darwin classified such idiots on the bottom of the food chain for obvious reasons

  2. On October 25, 2020 at 7:30 pm, T said:

    Correction: it is not the antifa followers that are wearing camoflage. They wear black. Part of the reason why they are referred to as “Black Bloc”. No, the camoflage is worn by patriots who came home from overseas and found out that the enemy is at home too, and broke out the old gear they thought would come out on Veterans Day or deer hunts. After all if you are going to put your life on the line for your country and your family and your neighborhood without pay or a field hosptial, you want to wear the gear that got you home safe in the first place. Also, community. While the leftists have been honing their skills and organization during four months of rioting and playing catch-and-release by leftist city councils, the rest of us have been either working, trying to get work or building the patio with the free time that the wuhan flu provided when the job closed its doors. Yeah, the right is behind the power curve for organization. Slipping on the ocp’s or old BDU’s and dusting off the tactical mindset are a start. Especially BDU’s. Snowflakes weren’t “a thing” when those were issued. I know if I end up taking a bullet at home, I’d at least like to be wearing the uniform I proudly served in.

  3. On October 26, 2020 at 6:09 am, TRX said:

    > And this is news? I don’t think these writers have ever even visited the South.

    Dear Gaia, no! There are alligators there. And banjos.

    Besides, they know all they need to know about the South from fine documentaries like “Deliverance” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

  4. On October 26, 2020 at 8:03 am, Fred said:

    And in the south they have * “frantically” hyperventilates * Bibles.

  5. On October 26, 2020 at 10:16 am, PaulB said:

    Not sure about frantically. I was in Wally the other day and they had no rifles or shotguns. Did find some 22 WMR I also was at Sportsmanship Warehouse and they where looking striped. Stopped by the local store and they would like to restock but are having a hard time.

    I think the sheeple might have gotten a clue.

    We will have to see next week how it plays out

  6. On October 26, 2020 at 2:33 pm, Frank Clarke said:

    The encouraging part about panic-driven gun-buying is “who’s doing the buying?” It’s mostly noobs who are shocked to discover how difficult is actually IS to get a gun!

    http://dispatchesfromheck.blogspot.com/2020/03/ranks-of-gun-owners-explodes.html

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