Hate crimes against minority groups in America have spiked following Donald Trump’s unexpected election victory; as a result, gun sales to members of minority groups have reportedly soared. According to gun store owners who spoke to NBC News,gun sales to minorities have increased so drastically since November 8 that in some instances, they have quadrupled.

Leading the pack, it appears that members of the African-American community are buying up guns in droves, with some African-American gun clubs and groups reporting that their attendance rates have doubled since election night.

"Gun store owners told NBC News that since November 8 they're seeing up to four times as many black and minority... https://t.co/fAXITZhDXx — Occupy the Media (@OccupytheMediaX) November 24, 2016

The reason? According to many minority gun buyers say it’s a matter of staying safe in an increasingly hostile nation. At least one gun store owner told the NBC News that they believe that the President-Elect has set a poor example, and minorities in America are paying the price.

“You feel that racists now feel like they can attack us just because the president is doing it.”

During the year or so leading up to the general election, racial tension in the United States grew to levels nearly unheard of in recent decades. Before minority gun sales spiked, America was seemingly at the mercy of tragedy after tragedy involving controversial shooting-related deaths.

In some of the highest profile cases, multiple members of American minority communities (largely African-American males) were shot and killed by police officers, sparking protests and riots across the country. In some of those cases, the minority victims were unarmed, in others, the shootings ended up caught on tape.

I wonder if we minorities get to keep our guns....minority gun & RTE foodstuffs sales skyrocketing. ???? Prepping for Donny begins! https://t.co/38zmZZyscU — Geno Maynard (@GenoMaynard) November 10, 2016

Apparently, gun sales to minority groups is surging. How long before Breitbart writes articles concerned about the upcoming race war? — Wadegiving (@Thomwade) November 24, 2016

@TheClaudeTaylor Hear, hear! Heard sometime today that we are not our grandparents... — Jade the Resistance (@mcmacsnapcap) November 24, 2016

@NBCNightlyNews good for them, but not good for white supremacists who commit hate crimes. — Donald Trump's Pussy (@HughJessWiener) November 24, 2016

@NBCNightlyNews Maybe when they were hearing the , "Lock Her Up" chants, it reminded them of "Hang the N". Scary times for many. — michael bikales (@michaelbikales) November 24, 2016

As the Los Angeles Times reports, the rash of minority shootings (most of which didn’t result in criminal convictions of the officer who pulled the trigger) were largely responsible for spawning the Black Lives Matter political activism movement.

“Amadou Diallo. Manuel Loggins Jr. Ronald Madison. Kendra James. Sean Bell. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. Alton Sterling. Each was a black man or woman who died at the hands of police.”

Throughout the election, many in America’s minority communities reported feeling targeted and threatened, and many were looking forward to November 8 to change the tide of violence against minorities. Not to mention bring an end to some of the things that then-candidate Trump was advocating during his campaign, such as a border wall, Muslim registry, and giving broader power and authority to the same law enforcement agencies that had been caught on tape using excessive force (and often deadly) force against minority suspects.

Shooting deaths of police officers up 78% this year. We must restore law and order and protect our great law enforcement officers! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2016

As the Federalist reports, during the election Donald Trump had very slim support among minority communities.

“A Suffolk University poll released on September 1 had Trump at two percent nationally among black voters. In four polls in August Trump was at either one percent or two percent. In some swing states, he doesn’t even get to 0.5 percent with black voters. Among Latinos, Trump only wins 19 percent of the vote.”

[Image by ja-images/Shutterstock]

Fast forward to November 9, the first day of post-Trump America. Immediately, hate crimes (including racially-motivated violence) in America spiked, with most being directed at minority Americans. Since November 8, the Southern Poverty Law Center says that they have gotten reports of over 700 separate incidents.

Included among the hate crimes targeting minority Americans since Trump’s win have swastika graffiti, Latino Americans (primarily students) threatened with taunts of “build that wall” and fake deportation letters, and various anti-minority hate crimes at universities across the country.

The added threats to America’s minority communities apparently have enough minority Americans so fearful that they are arming themselves in numbers that well surpass what was taking place in pre-election America.

Found this white supremacist flyer in PHSC this morning #yOUrbad @yourbadOU pic.twitter.com/ooRdbsKN3d — Kathleen Crowther (@Sacrobosco2013) November 14, 2016

According to Yolanda Scott, a 49-year-old African-American woman who is part of the uptick in minority gun sales, the decision to upgrade from the crowbar she carried in her purse to a pistol was a no brainer in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s November 8 victory.

“It’s best that I be proactive. I know where I live. I’m not the type of person who is afraid of my own shadow. I’m going to protect myself, whatever that means”

Ironically, or perhaps forebodingly for American’s minority citizens, gun sales spiked in the month before Trump’s Election Day surprise, but for a different reason entirely. In October, the FBI background check system ran 2.3 million gun sale-related background checks, which is now the all-time record. The reason? In October, it was widely predicted that Hillary Clinton would be the next POTUS, and many thought that a Clinton win would result in tighter gun-control.

Paul Ryan seemed unaware of post-election hate crimes and abuse. We know he's busy. Let's bring the stories to him. Help us #TellPaulRyan. pic.twitter.com/C2aTRUMFyI — Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) November 15, 2016

As NBC News reports, November could possibly surpass October in gun sales, largely thanks to a fearful minority community that has begun to arm itself.

According to Earl Curtis, a gun shop owner in Virginia, he’s seen an increase in minority gun sales at his two locations, and he thinks he knows why.

“They thought Trump won’t win.”

Curtis further reports that many of his minority gun sales currently involve first-time gun owners and even first-time shooters fearing “race riots and being attacked by racists,” some whom believe that what’s happened since the election is “just the beginning.”

[Featured Image by Steve Helber/AP Images]