Everywhere we go, we keep hearing all about how gun stores should be shut down, how they’re not essential businesses and all that. However, many governors–including a surprising number of anti-gunners, to be fair–have determined otherwise. They’ve declared gun stores as essential and they remain open.

While we on the pro-gun side of the debate are delighted by this, the other side isn’t. Then again, this isn’t surprising. Of course, they’d find it upsetting to see gun stores, the bane of their existence, remaining open.

Numerous op-eds have been written talking about how gun stores shouldn’t remain open in the midst of such a public nightmare.

Of course, this is almost universally reflective of the writers’ anti-gun bias and not any real concern over the public health. For example, this letter-to-the-editor in the Baltimore Sun reflects some of the nonsense spewed pretty well:

While I understand the letter writer’s concern about Second Amendment rights, I don’t see Harry Neiderer’s concern for society as a whole during a global pandemic (“Maryland gun stores need to stay open,” April 3). What exactly is the gun going to protect you from when the availability of guns and ammunition contributes greatly to tragic domestic violence and suicide during very trying times when people have limited ability to get away from each other?

…

Put the “public” in public health emergency and wear a face covering in public with gloves. That’s how you can contribute to slowing the spread of disease. Your gun does nothing to improve that situation but does add the possibility of health care resources being diverted to gun accidents, crime or mass shooting instead of treating disease.

In other words, if people can buy a gun, they’re going to use it to kill someone they supposedly love.

Now, that’s not to say there isn’t any violence that will erupt over that. There likely will be. Yet only a fool thinks a gun is the only way that will happen.

Violence will likely erupt because people are forced to remain in close quarters with one another and in many cases have been for weeks now. They’re doing it in a tense situation in which both parties are powerless to do anything. As a result, tempers fray far more than normal. The usual coping mechanisms are gone. You can’t go to the gym, public parks are closed in many places, there’s nothing you can do to get away from it.

All of that makes it difficult enough.

Yet guns aren’t the determining factor here. The average man is stronger than the average woman. That’s not sexism, that’s biology. Because of that biological fact, the average man is capable of killing the average woman with his bare hands. Now, there are exceptions to every rule. Imagine a couple where he is built like Andy Dick and she is basically Gina Carrano. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to smack her around without her permission.

But that’s the outlier and I’m talking about the average.

Further, let’s also face the fact that there’s zero evidence to support new gun sales with increases in domestic violence. The vast majority of violence in this country is gang-related anyway and they’re not swarming gun stores right about now…or ever.

Yet many other op-eds focus exclusively on the spread of the disease. I get where they’re coming from, of course. People who are out and about are far more likely to get the disease than those hunkered down at home.

However, people can’t necessarily just stay at home. Grocery stores are still open, for example, and they’re essential for millions to get food. While grocery delivery is an option for many, it’s not a universal option.

Yet grocery stores are a greater potential vector for the disease than a gun store.

Think about it for a second. You walk down the aisle and put things in your cart, but you touched that can of beans first? How many people touched it before you? You don’t know. You also don’t know if they were sick or if those cans have been cleaned or not.

Gun stores, however, are different. You can’t just grab a Glock off the shelf. Those are usually in a glass case and an employee has to hand it over to you to handle. Then you had it back to them when you’re finished. At that point, they can wipe the weapon down with something to sanitize it before returning it to the case.

What are the odds of that happening with a can of green beans?

The truth is, there aren’t really any valid arguments for closing gun stores. There never have been. The effort to shut them down has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic and everything to do with the writers’ own inherent bias against guns. There’s absolutely no valid argument to shut them down and, deep down, they know it. They know this is a pretext and nothing else.