By Jim Shepherd

Cautiously optimistic might be an overly-conservative description of the throngs of people who pushed fire marshals to their very limits at the NRA's Annual Meetings this weekend in Phoenix. A very heavy turnout and slower-than-anticipated registration process led to many attendees waiting as long as 90 minutes to get into the show on Friday. The crowd was further delayed when fire marshals limited access due to crowding concerns.

Once they were inside, moods changed from surly to sunny. As one attendee said "we should be happy, we all hold the same values for our country and our individual rights."

Those problems were resolved for the final two days, but the message to everyone watching - including the national audience watching on Fox News was pretty straightforward - we are not meeting because we're afraid; we're meeting because we're celebrating the values we hold in common. In fact, the Fox News correspondent on site had planned to focus his reporting on the fact gun owners were "nervous and concerned" over the Obama administration's attitudes toward guns and gun owners.

Concerned, maybe. Afraid? Don't think so.

The upward trend in firearms sales continued in April, marking the sixth consecutive month of significant increases.

Data released by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 1,225,980 checks in April 2009. This figure is a 30.3 percent increase from the 940,961 reported in April 2008.