Canadians have a reputation for being extraordinarily polite. My own experiences with them tend to bear that out to some degree, though they’re human and there’s variation in any group. I have no doubt that our neighbors to the north have plenty of jackwagons too, people who simply mock what they don’t comprehend or things like that.

At least one of those such people writes for the Toronto Sun, too.

GUNS KILL THE CORONAVIRUS American exceptionalism, indeed! According to the Daily Mail, there has been a surge in gun sales in coronavirus-ravaged New York, California and Washington. And there have been lineups at gun stores across the U.S. Reasons: Protecting family from looters if food and supply shortages emerge, fears the government will slash gun rights, and Asian-Americans who fear racist attacks. Amelia Adams, U.S. correspondent for Australian network Nine News, tweeted: “Queues to buy guns in LA. Buyers tell me they’re scared of what will happen if people run out of food and supplies, and they need to protect their families.” One man told the Los Angeles Times: “Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest time that we don’t need guns. But right now, a lot of people are truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves.”

We’ve touched on some of these before, of course, but the first couple lines reek of “those silly Americans.”

However, let’s understand something. The fear is real and, more importantly, not inappropriate.

Guns and ammo sales have spiked all over the nation. One gun store reports selling over $30,000 worth of merchandise on Monday alone. Others are reporting decreases in the availability of ammunition from their suppliers.

People are buying guns and even the New York Post is writing about it.

Look, it’s easy for a writer to sit in their ivory tower and pontificate on what everyone else does. Believe me, I know better than most just how easy it is. After all, a case could be made that it’s all I do.

However, people are scared. They’re scared and their minds are telling them it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

I’m someone who has said before that I didn’t think this was going to be that bad, but I’m starting to reevaluate that. It’s not that the virus is just so deadly, but that it’s spreading and overwhelming the logical system. Right now, we’re short of things like toilet paper, but what happens when we can’t put enough food on the shelves?

Should people become hungry and have no means of getting more food, what do you think is going to happen?

Even with massive government spending going to help the poor and with countless charities seeking to do the same, we have people committing various crimes under the excuse that they’re just trying to support their families.

What happens if those charities and the government simply can’t help people anymore for whatever reason? What happens then?

That’s when people go out and start taking whatever they want. Most of those folks already have guns. Either that or they can get them. When that happens, what do you think happens to those folks who didn’t buy guns?

While it’s easy for a writer at a Canadian newspaper to point and laugh and the concern, those who are buying guns right now are being a lot smarter than those who think this is grounds to mock them. One is going be far more likely to thrive going forward no matter what than the other.