Gun Sales Rise 30 - 40 Percent in recent weeks...

[gdcleanfun]

(I searched and could not find anything relevant, but, pease excuse if this has been posted already. )

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Published on Thursday, November 13, 2008

Up in arms: Gun sales boom after election

By John Ramsey
Staff writer


Fear brought Joseph Cannon to Jim’s Gun Jobbery on Wednesday.

But the 53-year-old retired Special Forces soldier isn’t afraid for his safety. He’s worried that soon after Jan. 20 — when Barack Obama takes the presidential oath of office — he won’t be able to buy the gun he wants.

Cannon, who served on a marksmanship unit during his 20-year Army career, was out of luck in his search for a Ruger Mini-30 assault rifle that fires AK-47 rounds. The $700 gun had sold out by Thursday.

Since the Nov. 4 election, thousands of people have flooded gun dealers because of the belief that an Obama presidency — backed by Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress — will bring tighter gun control laws. After seeing that Obama supports making permanent the 1994 assault weapon ban, gun lovers are determined to beat him to the punch.

The result has been Christmas come early for dealers. Jim’s Gun Jobbery in Fayetteville sold more guns Saturday than on last year’s Christmas Eve, typically one of the busiest days of the year.

Trey Pugh, the store manager, said the scene reminded him of a toy store on the day after Thanksgiving. People were hurrying to guns as soon as they got in the door, then keeping their hands on them until they could make the purchase. More than 100 guns left the store on that day alone, but sales have been up at least 50 percent since mid-October, he said.

Some models of long guns are selling three or four times more than usual, he said.

Some background checks were delayed because the FBI hotline that the shop calls was overwhelmed over the weekend. Several customers had to return the next day to pick up their guns after they had been cleared.

Jim’s hired two people last month to prepare for the holidays, and the store is looking for one more employee just to keep up with demand.

“It hit just a fever day the days after the election,” he said. “It was just unbelievable.”

The gun salesmen at Gander Mountain on Skibo Road said they’ve seen the same thing.

The most popular items are semi-automatic assault rifles such as the AK-47 and AR-15.

The store’s gunsmith, Andrew Paige, said he bought the lower parts for AR-15s as an investment. If they are banned, they’ll be worth more in the future, he said.

And Gander Mountain salesman Craig Hensel said as soon as the new shipment of AR-15s comes in, he will buy one for himself. Nobody wants to wait for the hammer to drop on their gun rights, he said.

“Who knows what’s going to happen?” Hensel said. “Get ’em while the gettin’s good.”

Reports from across the country show sales increasing 30 percent to 40 percent at gun shops in the past few weeks.

Though it’s impossible to know whether it’s because of the election, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office issued 2,334 gun permits between Sept. 1 and Wednesday, up 27 percent over the same period last year.

So many guns are selling across the U.S. that they’re becoming hard to restock, said Pugh, the manager at Jim’s.

Cannon isn’t the only person who has been told to come back later. The demand has shifted from middle-of-the road assault rifles, which are no longer easy to find, to the lower-and higher-end models.

“People are saying, ‘Give me what you’ve got,’” Pugh said.

Media reports about the sales have added fuel to the frenzy, he said. And increased demand has, in turn, led to higher prices.

Guns that sold for $799 a month ago are selling for $899.

People also are stocking up on ammunition, fearing a dramatic tax increase on ammo under Obama.

Leading up to the election, the National Rifle Association announced plans to spend $15million to portray Obama as a threat to gun rights.

The NRA said Obama would be the “most anti-gun president in American history.”

Doug Pennington, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the NRA didn’t scare enough people to elect John McCain on Nov. 4. But its message obviously played a part in the rush to buy guns.

Pennington said the Brady Campaign would like to see some tighter gun laws that Obama has supported.

The easiest would be to fix the gun show loophole and require background checks for 100 percent of sales. And after Obama deals with two wars and a faltering economy, some sort of ban on assault weapons should be on the table, Pennington said.

He describes Obama’s stance as one for common sense gun control.

“Barack Obama’s not going to take anybody’s guns away. He’s not going to take anybody’s ammunition away,” Pennington said. “It’s how many rounds you can fire at one time with these 30-round magazines. There’s no real need for any person to need to fire 30 rounds of these body-armor-piercing rounds within five seconds like you can with a semi-automatic AK-47.”

Not everyone is ready to give Obama all the credit for the increase in gun purchases. Sales tend to rise when the economy falls. Local dealers say that’s always the case.

Bernard Barr at Guns Plus in Spring Lake said sales have been steadily high because many soldiers buy them for spouses before a deployment.

But Obama’s views do trouble him, he said. Barr said the president-elect seems to want people to give up their Second Amendment right to bear arms. The assault-rifle ban here doesn’t make sense because those weapons aren’t linked to higher crime, he said.

“A guy isn’t going to buy a $10,000 rifle and rob a convenience store with it,” he said.

Gun stores are hoping to ride the wave through the holidays, and they expect another surge just in time for the Jan. 20 inauguration.

But that doesn’t mean gun salesmen are elated about Obama.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Pugh said. “You’re sort of selling your future.”
Staff writer John Ramsey can be reached at ramseyj@fayobserver.com or 486-3574.

(Well, sheesh, I posted the web site from whence it came but it's not here. I'll have look it up again. Try here: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=310283)

[HK4U]

I am sure there is a lot of panic buying right now. The gun show I went to a couple weeks back was packed. I guess the potential threat to our freedoms, especially the right to keep and bear arms, that the new administration poses has motivated a lot of people.

[gun runner]

I doubled my sales this year in two weeks. This week it is back to normal. But it was all panic buying and people buying the stuff that they think Obomanation is going to have band or tax the crap out of.
Double stack semi auto pistols AR's and ammo mostley.

[capo2186]

Only thing that bothered me about this article was the fact that the author referred to semi-auto rifles such as the AK-47 and Ar-15 as "ASSAULT" rifles. These are not Assault rifles.

On a side note, I love how every single incident involving a firearm in a negative way is all over the news and the media makes them out to be these horrific things. I never see in the papers on the front page or on the 6pm news about how a firearm SAVED a life. Never. So wrong. They want us to give up our 2A right, how about they give up their right to "freedom of the press".

[spf159753]

Only thing that bothered me about this article was the fact that the author referred to semi-auto rifles such as the AK-47 and Ar-15 as "ASSAULT" rifles. These are not Assault rifles.

On a side note, I love how every single incident involving a firearm in a negative way is all over the news and the media makes them out to be these horrific things. I never see in the papers on the front page or on the 6pm news about how a firearm SAVED a life. Never. So wrong. They want us to give up our 2A right, how about they give up their right to "freedom of the press".

I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wolfhunter]

I helped with the shop's sales at both a September gun show and one this weekend. At the September show (2 days), we sold 17 guns. Today, we sold 19 guns. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

[toreskha]

Cannon, who served on a marksmanship unit during his 20-year Army career, was out of luck in his search for a Ruger Mini-30 assault rifle that fires AK-47 rounds. The $700 gun had sold out by Thursday.

I've never heard of a round called AK-47. Is that new?

[Glock Fan]

I've never heard of a round called AK-47. Is that new?

It's the round that's fired from the big bad "assult weapon"


gf

[toreskha]

It's the round that's fired from the big bad "assult weapon"


gf

I think what they mean by "assault weapon" is the kind with stocks that sprout legs, jump up and run around assaulting people. More bipod legs and grips means that they can run faster and have more things to beat people with. In situations where guns get a running start and then just launch themselves at you like a spear, bayonets can be quite deadly.

[gdcleanfun]

I think what they mean by "assault weapon" is the kind with stocks that sprout legs, jump up and run around assaulting people. More bipod legs and grips means that they can run faster and have more things to beat people with. In situations where guns get a running start and then just launch themselves at you like a spear, bayonets can be quite deadly.

Thanks, Toreskha. You gave hubby and I our giggles for the night! Your statements just go to show how silly the media can be with their "wording." Their use of "assault weapon" is as" bogus-ly descriptive" as their use of the phrase, "home invasion robbery." I'd really like to see where the phrase, "home invasion robbery" rather than "burglary" or "robbery" is written in any of the codes of the 50 states or holdings! Maybe it's just their newest "catch phrase" of the decade.