In Tuesday’s election, one group that’s been deemed critical are so-called suburban moms. Basically, white, middle-class women with families who live outside but near larger cities. These women tend to vote Democrat much of the time. They don’t always, though, and that makes them a critical swing demographic. If you can get them to side with your guy over the other guys, you’ve got a good chance of taking a state, especially a state where the city and rural numbers have some measure of parity.

Much of the speculation surrounding a Trump defeat has hinged on many of these suburban moms simply not liking the president. In fairness, the guy is loud and brash and it’s easy to dislike him. My favorite part about the man is that he pisses off the people I want to see get pissed off, so it’s not hard to understand that he’s also pushing other people’s buttons as well.

That would include suburban moms.

However, recent developments may have pushed those voters past any inherent dislike of President Trump as a person and make them vote Republican. That would be the riots.

Lisa Mayo owns Flashpoint Firearms in Comstock Park, Michigan, just a few miles north of Grand Rapids.

She said her biggest sales day occurred after rioting in downtown Grand Rapids the night after a George Floyd protest took place. WOOD TV reported that the Grand Rapids Police Department headquarters was tagged with expletives. Storefront windows were smashed. Properties were destroyed. Police cruisers were torched. An estimated $2.4 million in damage was done, according to Mlive.

Mayo said her new customers “were scared” after the riots in May. “There was a lot of single mothers that were coming in, never would have believed in their whole entire life that they would own a firearm, and they came to my store and said they need to protect themselves, but more importantly, their children.”

Mayo said a “significant portion” of her customers are from the city of Grand Rapids and poor.

“They’re fearing for their lives, and their budget is around that $200-$350 price range,” she said.

Now, take that fear and pass it up the chain. Suburban housewives may already live in homes with firearms present, so they wouldn’t need to buy them.

Yeah, it’s speculation, but let’s also remember that poorer single mothers tend to vote Democrat as well, and they’re now buying guns. In fact, they’re typically a more solid Democrat voting block than suburban housewives who are just as freaked by the riots.

The truth of the matter is that while President Trump has been trying to address the riots, Democrats throughout the nation have been siding with the rioters. It wasn’t until polling data showed the riots weren’t popular that we saw former Vice President Joe Biden speak out against them.

Don’t think for a moment that doesn’t play a factor.

Now, in fairness, the above quote is anecdote, not data. It may well not translate throughout the nation by any stretch of the imagination. However, I can’t help but wonder just how universal this might be. After all, we saw riots in pretty much every state. Riots were everywhere on the news and the media covering for them as “mostly peaceful” protests didn’t likely play well with a lot of folks.

It should be interesting to see how this all plays out on Tuesday.