If you watched or read anything about the CNN town hall last night, we can all safely say that it amounted to an anti-2A, NRA witch hunt, and not the “conversation” or “discussion” it was billed as.

What many around the country saw was as a result of the students focusing in on NRA money, cheers for assault weapons bans, and calling NRA rep Dana Loesch a “murderer.” I’m sure it felt cathartic to some, but the assumption that the stadium filled with people for that town hall is representative of the rest of America is likely an inaccurate one.

I’ll leave you to ponder whether or not the claims of CNN’s town hall being scripted are true. There are arguments for and against, but even if it wasn’t scripted in the least, I’d still be very careful about assuming the rest of America agrees with the anger focused on guns and the NRA. In fact, what we’re likely to see isn’t going to be a hit to the NRA’s numbers in terms of membership or bank account. What we’re liable to see is the exact opposite.

For one, unlike many other organizations, the NRA thrives most when it’s under attack. A mix of outrage toward the left and concern about gun rights being taken away causes many to run to the NRA to protect their rights and weapons. What CNN did last night didn’t so much put the NRA in a bad light as it did show America an angry mob willing to do whatever it took to make sure they couldn’t have their rifles.

After Sandy Hook occurred, there was plenty of anger directed at the NRA and the 2nd Amendment. However, instead of the checkmate that the left thought they had against their most hated organization, membership to the NRA spiked some 250,000. We’re seeing a replay of those events now, and the NRA will likely come out of this fecal pile being dumped on it smelling like a rose. Time will tell if this is what will happen, but history has a way of repeating itself.

Furthermore, the fact that semi-automatic rifles are on the chopping block is going to scare people into buying them. This has been demonstrated so many times during Obama’s presidency that the gun industry considered him their best salesman.

And the interest in buying guns has already begun one day after the CNN town hall. According to PJ McCulloch, owner of Sgt. Mac’s Gun Shack in Galveston, Texas, the calls have already started coming in.

“We saw more calls and people over it,” McCulloch told RedState. “Not many buyers yet, but this is normal. It usually takes a few days of hype and blow up.”

And the media is definitely fueling that hype. Articles from CNN, The Hill, and more are currently trumpeting last night’s town hall as a victory, and releasing article after article of various moments that lend to the impression that gun control is winning. The chances that McCulloch is about to see a boost in sales is definitely high if the news cycle continues down this road for too long.

In the long run, 2018 CNN may have replaced 2009-2016 Obama as the nation’s greatest gun salesman if history is to be believed.