What can cause people to run to their local gun stores and buy up as many guns as they can? People rioting in the streets like animals can definitely spark this sort of trend, and it has. Gun sales rose on Y2K, during the 2008 crash, after the recent school shootings such as the Colorado and Sandy Hooke incidents, and now with Ferguson just to name a few times in the last few years.

FBI background checks, which are required for most gun purchases, jumped by about 12% compared to October. The bureau said it performed 1,803,397 checks in November.

Ferguson rioting has been headline news as the events of the death of Michael Brown sparked some serious emotions from opinions on both sides of the coin. Without even getting into the opinions on the case, this shows me how volatile society can get when a mob mentality develops. There were many disappointed people that came forward in a very peaceful way, and they legally made their case as to why they were disappointed. However, there was a large group of people that took their frustration to the next level and began damaging property, and hurting others with their actions.

This violent rioting made many people very nervous, and many people went out and bought guns accordingly. Personally, I think it’s a good thing that people are armed. Crime will statistically be lower if people have to think twice before turning into an animal in fear that they might get their head blown off if they do something stupid.

The Fear Motivator

Clearly people were motivated by fear when they ran out and purchased guns because they were afraid of the possibility of riots. When it comes to protecting their wealth, protecting their house, and protecting their health nothing can motivate you like fear. Have you ever heard the line in commercials, “only for a limited time?” This is clearly a subtle play on fear that this deal will be gone in the very near future and the truth is, it works.

Basing your actions on fear is not all bad. I recently purchased two more fire extinguishers for my house just in case there was a fire, and my family needed to get out. The fear of getting trapped in my own house caused me to act, and I purchased the more expensive product because I was fearful the inferior product would fail me.

Controlling Your Emotions and Making Wise Decisions

Acting on extreme emotion can be detrimental and cause you to make harmful long-term decisions rather than making prudent short-term decisions, for the long-term. The families that didn’t previously own a gun, and were recently motivated to go out and purchase one based on these riots made a rationale decision without being drastic. Although, people who went out and emptied their bank account purchasing many multiple guns because of fear of not being armed enough, were probably overreacting and wasting their money.

Something I’ve learned is that it’s important to sleep on things, and take the time to make a clear decision on something that is based on an overwhelming emotion. This is so true when it comes to purchasing investments. Most of the time, when I act too quickly, it’s either because a stock is falling or rising and my emotions are racing as to buy or sell based on what I’m seeing right at the moment. It’s at these times I’ve learned that I need to settle down and analyze the situation before making a knee-jerk decision, and lose money in the process.

Even when I purchased the home I’m living in now, it was after eight months of searching and being disappointed with what we were finding available. We eventually came across a distressed seller who needed out of the house, and was able to make a very informed offer and purchase the property at a killer price. If we would have acted on some of the other properties we were looking at just because they were “okay,” and we wanted to close NOW, we would have missed out on what ended up being the best deal we came across after eight months of looking.

There is no way to take emotions out of the picture. Even as a man, I sometimes claim that I’m not an emotional being; the reality is while there might be some truth to that, I’m still human and am at times emotional. Learn to sleep on decisions and gather information on subjects before you act. This has proved to be such a beneficial practice in my own life and I hope this will help you too.

Be sure to stay safe out there in this crazy world and always pay attention to your surroundings. You never know when someone is going to forcefully violate your freedoms and you might need to act on your feet quickly.

Prosperous Regards,
Kenneth Ameduri
Chief Editor at CrushTheStreet.com