Yesterday morning, I wrote about how a writer at the Toronto Sun thought stocking up on guns and ammo was just an example of how silly we Americans are, what with our love of firearms and all that. Frankly, the implication annoyed me, primarily because the people buying guns were exercising some common sense.

However, if the writer at the Sun wants to mock someone for buying guns during a pandemic, he can start looking a little closer to home.

The COVID-19 outbreak coupled with fears about more restrictive gun legislation has fuelled a spike in firearm and ammunition sales, several dealers said this week.

Buyers, they say, are stocking up while they can ― a development that has alarmed gun-control advocates.

“We are seeing a surge in sales,″ said Ross Faulkner, owner of The Gun Dealer in McAdam, N.B., which bills itself Atlantic Canada’s largest firearms store. “When things get tough, it’s certainly a feeling of security, especially when you’re dealing with uncertain times like we’re dealing with now.”

The result, said Wes Winkel, head of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, has been an “extreme surge″ in domestic sales. Part of it relates to concerns about being able to get permits as government offices close, as well as overall supply fears.

“In no product in our supply chain does it take longer to replenish than in firearms and ammunition,” said Winkel, whose association represents retailers, distributors and manufacturers. “People know if they don’t get stuff and the supply chain is being depleted, they’re going to run out quickly.”

So it’s not just Americans concerned with being able to protect themselves during these tense times.

Good to know.

Of course, that’s not really surprising. I expect that people are buying guns in every country in which they’re legally allowed to have them. I also expect they’re buying them in countries where they’re not.

It’s interesting that they’re also including concerns of new regulations in the midst of this. That tends to drive sales as well. Of course, which is the primary driver?

Really, it depends on the individual. People who own several firearms and are showing up to buy more are rarely buying due to pandemic concerns. They’ve got weapons to see them through a crisis. They might be stocking up on ammunition due to being worried about the disease, but not guns.

New gun owners, though, are typically driven by pandemic concerns. They’re worried that things will get bad and they’ll need to have some kind of means to defend themselves from those who wish to harm them and their families. They’re new to guns and many may have been anti-gunners previously, but now they recognize the role a firearm can play in keeping one’s family safe and sound.

And that’s regardless of which side of the border they fall on.

Look, people buying guns are doing it for their own reasons and, frankly, it doesn’t matter what they are. The right to keep and bear arms isn’t granted by the Constitution. It’s granted to us by nature of being free men and women. I hope more and more Canadians remember that after all this passes.