Earlier this year Connecticut state legislators decide to pass extreme, stringent anti-gun laws that threatened the ability for citizens to purchase and own guns.  One by one citizens responded by electing pro-gun members to office and through gun manufacturers who made the decision to leave the state.

For all the talk coming from the anti-gun media, they’ll be surprised to learn that their efforts haven’t deterred the amount of firearm purchases in Newtown, Connecticut.  In fact, Wall Street Journal reports that applications for permits to purchase guns have nearly doubled since the tragic Sandy Hook shootings.

Over 200 people have applied for gun purchase permits so far, which already surpasses the 171 new permits issues for all of 2012.

And it’s not just in Newtown, everywhere across the U.S. people are heading in droves to purchase guns and ammo.  Forecasters predict that 2013 will easily set the record for annual gun and ammo sales (I’m sure we’ve all noticed the recent ammo shortages).

From the WSJ,

The local surge is especially sensitive in Newtown. The town of about 28,000, approximately 75 miles northeast of New York City, has a sizable population of hunters and sportsmen as well as a base of politically active gun-control advocates that has organized since the Sandy Hook shooting.

“I think people realize that you can’t call the police all the time and expect them to save you,” said Newtown resident Bill Stevens, 48 years old, an avid hunter who owns more than a dozen firearms. “It’s sinking in to some folks that ‘I need to take responsibility for keeping my family safe.’”

It’s encouraging to see people recognize the need to protect themselves during times of duress.  The response to a tragedy should never be “leave ourselves open to another one”.  Police can only provide so much assistance when a robber breaks into your house or a mugging on the street.  We’ll see how anti-gun politicians respond to the numbers when they refocus on the issue in 2014.