According to Georgia Southern University's Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development, consumers appear more optimistic as the holiday shopping season begins, and most plan to spend the same amount of money on gifts as they did last year."I think as people get ready to start their holiday shopping, we see a little bit more positive picture than we have in years past," said Ben McKay, a research associate with the bureau. "I think that consumers are, if not more optimistic, they are more adjusted to the current conditions."Georgia Southern's findings made me hopeful that people are feeling a little better about things, so I decided to do a bit of unscientific research on my own, just to see. You might find this somewhat unusual, but the barometer that I like to use is gun sales.