Presidential candidates reacted to the massacre in San Bernardino, reigniting the debate over gun laws and terrorism in America. WSJ's Shelby Holliday takes a closer look at the comments and Tweets from White House hopefuls. Photo: AP

IN the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which until yesterday was considered the worst mass shooting of the decade in the US, Americans did a few things.

They mourned, they prayed, they digested their shock, and they bought guns, lots and lots of guns.

The shooting left the nation on edge, and it now finds itself in the same position following the slaughter of 14 people when married couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik entered a Christmas party armed with legally purchased guns and sprayed the room with legally obtained bullets.

A separate shooting at a Planned Parenthood building in Colorado last week prompted President Barack Obama to share hope the crime would spur more Americans “to do something” to support tighter gun sale controls.

But following these tragedies, guns retailers are expecting another surge. And on the surface, the reason seems ludicrous.

Commentators suggest Americans are now trapped in a gun-buying death spiral, where mass shootings spark talk of lax gun control measures, prompting many to believe they need to go out and buy more guns. Then there’s another mass shooting, and on it goes.

“For citizens of such a rich and (hitherto) stable country to be arming themselves at this rate is collective insanity,” warns the New Yorker’s John Cassidy, describing America’s “self-destructive passion for guns” as nothing short of a dilemma.

“America is stuck in a self-reinforcing cycle of gun violence, and things might be about to get worse.”

One New York Sheriff even went as far as encouraging handgun owners to take advantage of their constitutional rights, encouraging all citizens who are licensed to carry a firearm to “please do so” in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting.

December 3, 2015ATTENTION LICENSED HANDGUN OWNERSIn light of recent events that have occurred in the United States... Posted by Ulster County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, December 3, 2015

The figures speak for themselves. In the firearms trade, mass shootings are very good for business. At the time of the Sandy Hook massacre, the firearm and ammunition industry generated an estimated $US6 billion in revenue in 2012.

A week ago American shoppers celebrated Black Friday — the day after the US Thanksgiving Day holiday, which also marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Retailers mark the day by aggressively discounting their merchandise.

On that day, more US residents applied to purchase handguns, rifles, and other firearms from licensed dealers than any other day on record, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data released this week. Before that the biggest day for gun sales came in the week after the Sandy Hook shooting.

On November 27, 185,345 applicants were processed through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which determines whether a person is eligible to purchase guns from a licensed dealership, the FBI said in a statement.

The FBI background check system, launched in 1998, allows gun retailers to clear prospective buyers via phone or computer.

The number of background checks on Black Friday marked a 5.5 per cent increase from the 175,754 a year ago.

The rise comes as President Obama and other gun control advocates blame the ready availability of firearms for years of mass shootings at US schools, malls and other public venues.

One retailer, CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ed Stack, has named the trend “panic buying” and has explained in interviews that gun-owners stockpile weapons in fear of a crackdown in sales.

It has been suggested the extraordinary Black Friday buy-up may have been in reaction to the Paris terrorist attacks that took place two weeks earlier. Farook and his wife’s motive in San Bernardino is yet to be established, but terrorism is certainly one line of inquiry.

“Here in the US, the mere mention of the “T” word, by making Americans even more fearful and providing more fodder for the gun lobby, is likely only to exacerbate the underlying problem,” warns Cassidy.

Gun sales have been rising all year, and are unlikely to diminish following the latest tragedy.

In more disturbing news, Americans will soon be able to snap up the latest firearms from the comfort of their sofas, with the launch in January of GunTV — a 24-hour weapons shopping channel.

The new channel is being launched by an organisation called Social Responsibility Network, which says it is addressing a need for “education, information and safety regarding firearms commerce in America”.

Federal authorities say that the two assault rifles and two handguns used in the San Bernardino massacre were all purchased legally in the United States.

- With AFP