While jobs are down and luxury clothing sales have crashed, the Obama election boosted another part of the economy: gun sales! Handgun and rifle sales have increased 30 percent over the last year, according to an alarming article in the New York Times today.

A lot of people are apparently stockpiling firearms believing that Obama's administration will push lefty gun laws nationwide:

Chris Casella, general manager of Federal Firearms Company in Oakdale, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, said he had been fielding about 30 calls a day from people interested in buying assault-type rifles, especially semiautomatic weapons, often with magazines that could hold lots of ammunition.

"A lot of people are buying them as an investment," Mr. Casella said. "Better than gold."

I was holding my breath during Obama's big speech on Tuesday night, waiting for the horrible second when some sniper somewhere would let off a shot heard round the world. And now, great, gun rights nuts are assembling arsenals of semiautomatic weapons that can hold lots of ammunition? I'm imagining a WTO style riot ending with kids being cut down by skittish conservative citizens' bullets.