Since mid-summer, Madison County’s main gun supplier – MWP Supply Inc. – has seen its gun and ammunition sales jump by 70 percent, store representatives reported last week. “We sort of suspected it would happen because obviously [President-Elect Barack] Obama is sort of anti-gun,” said Charlotte Hoffman, president of Madison County-based home-building outfitter MWP Supply Inc.

Now that the presidential election is over, we should heed the calls for unity from both President-Elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. This is needed not just nationally, but in Madison County as well. No matter how your political tastes run, we all need to work together to overcome the big challenges of the day. And while it’s fine to experience the joy of a new president’s inauguration, you should temper that with the realization that he inherits many weighty problems that will not likely all be solved quickly.

The Madison County Eagle features a special full-color keepsake commemorative page entitled, “Madison cheers Obama win,“ in its Nov. 13 edition. The page features images of Madison County residents celebrating the historic election of the first-ever African-American U.S. president.