News - World: More and more Americans have been arming themselves as they prepare for an imminent civil war, according to civil rights activists.

A Saturday report by The Guardian said the FBI’s unprecedented search of former US president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida unleashed a barrage of threats of violence and civil war amid the unprecedented rise of weapons sales.

The Guardian cited Dr. Garen Wintemute who used to laugh off warnings of a civil war coming to America as “crazy talk”. Then the emergency room doctor in California saw the figures for gun sales.

Wintemute, who founded a center to research firearms violence after years of treating gunshot wounds, had long observed that the rush to buy weapons came in waves, often around a presidential election. Always it fell back again.

“Then in January of 2020 gun sales took off. Just an unprecedented surge in purchasing and that surge continued,” he said. “We were aware that, contrary to prior surges, this one wasn’t ending. People are still buying guns like crazy.” Many were buying a weapon for the first time.

Wintemute wanted answers and they stunned him. A survey for the California Firearm Violence Research Center released last month showed that half of Americans expect a civil war in the United States in the next few years. One in five thought political violence was justified in some circumstances. In addition, while almost everyone said it was important for the US to remain a democracy, about 40 percent said that having a strong leader was more important.

“Coupled with prior research, these findings suggest a continuing alienation from and mistrust of American democratic society and its institutions. Substantial minorities of the population endorse violence, including lethal violence, to obtain political objectives,” the report concluded.

Suddenly Wintemute didn’t think talk of a violent civil conflict was so crazy any more.

In related news, the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have warned of an increase in the number of violent threats against federal agents, following last week’s unprecedented search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

In a joint intelligence bulletin issued on Friday, the FBI and DHS warned that violent threats against federal law enforcement, judicial and government personnel and property had increased.

They made threat of exploding “a so-called dirty bomb in front of FBI Headquarters" and called for "civil war" and "armed rebellion" across the United States.

The bulletin said the threats were posted online and across multiple platforms, including on social media.

The threats have risen to a point where current and former Republican elected officials are publicly calling for an end to such rhetoric, warning that it could spark real-life violence.

Source: Press TV