Welcome, Liberal Preppers

It’s almost a Poe:

Colin Waugh bought a shotgun four weeks before November’s election.
An unapologetic liberal, he was no fan of firearms. He had never owned one before…Last month, Waugh added a 9mm handgun to his arsenal.
With Trump now days away from assuming the White House, Waugh’s preparing for the worst. He’s made “bug-out bags” stuffed with ammo, energy bars, and assorted survival gear for his wife and their three cats*.

Hmmm… Never owned a gun before – never liked them – but now owns two because he’s concerned about possible government tyranny. I’m betting he is suddenly very glad he was able to buy them with a minimum of fuss. Send in your NRA dues, buddy.
Be that as it may, I welcome the multitude of cat-herding, granola-storing nuevo preppers to the ranks of the almost self-sufficient. I mean that in all earnest. If Mr. and Mrs. Waugh and their cats are not prepared for SHTF, then when it comes in whatever form they will be a burden on others. To the extent they are prepared, they can be a blessing to others.
Do I believe that there are going to be hordes of liberal preppers stockpiling food and guns alongside their more traditional counterparts? Not really. Liberals are people of emotion, and emotions pass. They are scared by the Trumpocalypse and are merely trying to assuage that fear**. But I don’t really think that they will make a long-lived attempt to get and stay small-town or rural, to become more self-sufficient, to re-learn lost skills and to do the things that normal preppers*** do.
I do hope, however, that they do one thing normal preppers do: get some training with those guns, especially the 9mm, before you kill yourself or one of your cats. You are now a gun owner. Be a responsible one.
* Perhaps the only way Mr. Waugh could be a more stereotypical liberal would be for him to be storing up granola bars for his husband and their cats.
** I make an obvious exception for liberals who are long-term specialty farmers, permaculturalists, and the like – you know, the kind of liberals who are already doing things because those things are important. These people are preppers without even thinking about it.
*** if “normal preppers” is not an oxymoron.