President Donald Trump’s political and economic agenda dividing the nation is raising new concerns about a possible “civil war” among America’s “preppers” and has gun sellers readying for a summer rush.
With political violence surging from the left against Elon Musk’s trademark Tesla vehicles for his part in cutting liberal spending and in cities targeted by immigrant deportation officers, fears are growing of wider civil disobedience this year.
National polls for the last few years have indicated that people are growing more concerned about the divide in the nation. And this year, it could hit a critical level as liberals and MAGA square off over Trump’s agenda.
In a survey of survivalists experts provided to Secrets, 70% said that Trump is creating the landscape for civil war. By far, the largest group was those who said the president is “greatly increasing” the likelihood of civil war, at 50%.
Get in, patriots—we have a country to save.🇺🇸@ElonMusk helps President Trump pick his new @Tesla! pic.twitter.com/VxdKMsOBjW
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 11, 2025
The survey was conducted by retired Air Force colonel Drew Miller’s “Fortitude Collapse Preparedness,” a consulting firm, and “Fortitude Ranch,” the nation’s largest survival community. Miller consults for businesses concerned about a civil or economic collapse.
His survey cited economic chaos followed by an electromagnetic pulse attack and another pandemic as the top reasons for a civil war.
Some of the nation’s top gun sellers are seeing a similar trend.
Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, N.C., said that sales are off due to continued inflation. But he added that if political violence threatens, there could be a run on stores.
“While we have seen a drop in sales, easily summed up as a ‘Trump Slump,’ I don’t think political concerns paint a fully accurate picture of what’s driving the drop in demand,” Anderson told Secrets.
“There are several other factors in play right now, including high prices for basic goods. If the unexpected contraction in spending is indicative of consumer spending overall, then we’re in for a challenging summer. In essence, when egg prices go up, discretionary spending on items like guns and ammunition go down,” he said.
Anderson added with caution that “the nation is also witnessing a watershed moment for the Democrat Party. After the president’s joint address to Congress, even those on the far left are calling for change. History has proven that this type of uncertainty allows fringe folks to start banging their drums. The result is usually not just discourse. I think we may see acts of civil disobedience ramp up as we get into the spring and summer months. Traditionally that leads to more gun sales.”
The same people that brought us “words are literally violence”, are now fighting the Constitutional crisis that is government efficiency by fire bombing Tesla dealerships around the country. pic.twitter.com/oLX4fYKT1y
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) March 10, 2025
Matthew Miller, the CEO of online retail sites CashForArms.com and FirearmLand.com, said he saw a slight dip in sales recently, maybe because the threat of having a liberal president is over.
He added that his customers were happy with the election and are likely to continue buying.
“Many of our regular customers are, of course, thrilled about the outcome of November’s election and feel much more confident adding to their collections at this point,” said Miller.
Overall, politics probably played a role in the national gun sales downward trend in February, though the concerns about self-defense continue to keep the monthly national sales figure over 1 million in America.
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“This is what American freedom looks like, when law-abiding citizens freely exercise their Second Amendment rights. Consistently, month-after-month, over 1 million Americans choose to freely approach the gun counter to purchase a firearm,” said Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry trade group.
Addressing a new FBI report that there were background checks for an estimated 1,222,980 gun sales last month, Oliva said, “February’s NSSF-Adjusted NICS figure of over 1.2 million background checks for the sale of a firearm at retail is indicative of the continued desire of Americans from all walks of life to enter into lawful and responsible firearm ownership.”
