Local gun shops see increase in rifle purchases
With the victory of President-elect Barack Obama, gun shops have been experiencing a marked increase in demand.
Al Herman, field representative for the National Rifle Association of Michigan, said taxes may be raised on firearms and ammunition in the future.
According to the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action's Web site, hours after Obama was declared President-elect, the Obama transition team Web site announced an agenda for four initiatives from the anti-gun lobby.
The initiatives are to make the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent and to repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits the release of federal firearm-tracing information to anyone other than certain law enforcement agencies, according to the Web site. They also include closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof.
"I believe a lot (of people) are buying (firearms and ammunition) because they will be harder to come by," Herman said.
Marshall Chase, owner of The Gun Doctor, said there has been a significant increase in demand for certain rifles.
"(For some manufacturers) rifles have gone off the shelves," Chase said.
Gun enthusiasts are concerned about the new administration and its stiffer gun restrictions, so they are buying some firearms now just in case they are not available any more, Chase said.
The Gun Doctor, in Ithaca, is a small, one-man shop and sells to mainly gunsmiths and hunters, but has seen a rush in demand for certain rifles and some handguns, Chase said.
He said he has been getting a lot of phone calls from people who are not usual customers and who are searching for different models of rifles. And some of his friends who own bigger gun shops have seen sales double for some of their rifles, he said.
It is all about how much a manufacturer can produce, Chase said. A manufacturer will produce a specific amount of one model and then move on to another model of the firearm. Once one model is gone, it could be months before it is produced again.
Manufacturers sell to dealers nationwide. One rifle model sold out two days after the election, Chase said.
"The manufacturer sold 2,000 of one model in one day," he said. "They were all sold out within a matter of two or three days."
Anti-gun laws won't happen overnight, though, said Herman.
Based on Obama's rhetoric during his campaign, sportmen and Second Amendment advocates should have some concern, said Dennis Lennox II, Campus Conservative spokesman and NRA member.
Sportsman and hunting enthusiasts would not want to have their right to bare arms taken away, the Topinabee senior said.
"The NRA and other organizations will closely be following what (Obama) does," he said.
Meijer, 1015 E. Pickard St., sells gun licenses but not firearms. There has been an increase in the licenses, but it may not be because of the election, said Corey Stahl, general merchandising clerk.
"With rifle season, it's hard to tell," Stahl said. "It's always crazy here."
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