To the editor:

Since 2008, I’ve witnessed the mass marketing of fear. I’ve witnessed the hijacking of gun collecting by those who use the fear of others to make money. In previous times, this paper covered the increased sales of guns and ammo locally and in Wyandotte County. Fear sells. I witnessed this looking for an antique gun shop in Tulsa, Okla., only to find a gun shop in suburban Tulsa selling tactical weapons and ammo. The NRA poster proclaiming President Obama as the “Best Gun Salesman Ever” was on the wall there. This fear is spoken in code unless people are at the gun shops and shows that I’ve attended for a couple of decades now. The 2008 election gave these people a face to sell their fear with. Why is that? It led to a new era of no longer speaking in code at gun shops and shows.

People fear confiscation of guns, but this country is simply too armed to be completely unarmed by the government. The only comparable circumstance to this level of confiscation is Prohibition, which began with Republicans and was ended by a Democrat. This fear is irrational. Former President Reagan supported the 1994 assault weapons ban but he wouldn’t be welcome in the Tea Party even with his constant exaltation by the Right. Why does the fear and gun stockpiling occur? Maybe that NRA poster and the man’s color on the poster in Tulsa answered this question. How shameful.