Posted on 11/17/2008 3:21:24 PM PST by djf
Since the Nov. 4 election, Mary Davies says her business has tripled.
The phone rings constantly and customers of the small South Tacoma gun shop have at times been backed up into the hallway, she said this week.
The boom Mary’s Pistols has been seeing has been reported all over the country as buyers stock up on handguns, assault rifles and high-capacity clips that they’re concerned might be banned by an Obama administration and a more heavily Democratic Congress.
No nationwide figures on post-election gun sales were available, but a look at local figures comparing fall 2007 to fall 2008 shows an uptick in some categories, bolstering the anecdotal evidence.
Pistol sales in Washington during August, September and October rose by 20 percent compared to last year, according to the state Department of Licensing. And the Washington State Patrol has seen a 43 percent jump in background checks the agency has conducted for concealed pistol licenses when comparing September, October and November of last year to this year – and that number is likely to go even higher because data were only available through Nov. 13 this year.
When a reporter visited Mary’s on Thursday afternoon, several customers were discussing how President-elect Barack Obama might want to tax ammunition.
Davies said business had been steady in the months leading up to the election and that the “summer doldrums” failed to materialize this year. But sales started jumping after the election, she said.
“It’s been quite nerve-wracking, actually,” Davies said. “It’s so much work. There are a lot of forms you have to fill out and hoops to jump through.”
A pistol purchase for example, requires a lengthy federal form, plus a state form, and has to be entered into a logbook.
“Guns are the most tightly controlled substance on the planet,” said her husband, Dan Davies.
The shop usually has 350 guns on display, but on Thursday Davies’ stock was down to 265.
Davies, who worked at her parents’ gun shop before opening her own store three years ago, is worried that new restrictions could put her out of business.
“I had customers come in with Obama T-shirts to get their guns before the laws change,” she said. “They say, ‘I like his economic policies.’ I tell them, ‘It may be your gun, but it’s my job.’”
Other local gun stores, such as Bull’s Eye, Welcher’s and Gun & Bow in Tacoma and Marksman Gun Shop in Puyallup either didn’t return calls seeking comment or declined to comment.
Obama’s record on gun rights is conflicting enough to give ammunition to either side, the Chicago Tribune reported. He sought to reassure gun owners during the campaign, promising he wasn’t going to take away citizens’ rifles, shotguns and handguns. But as an Illinois state legislator, he voted in favor of a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons and tighter restrictions on all firearms. He has also opposed allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons.
His mention of guns during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention might signal it’s a high priority for him, Davies said.
“The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals,” Obama said in his Aug. 28 speech. But many gun owners see gun restrictions hampering the rights of law-abiding citizens while criminals would just continue to flout the laws.
Davies has had to tell some customers seeking military look-alike rifles that her distributors are sold out and that there’s a six- to eight-month wait from the factory.
“I tell them they can order it but they may not get it if they’re outlawed right when they get in,” she said. She said the only real difference between a U.S. military-style rifle that she was holding and a semi-automatic hunting rifle is how it looks.
The fact that Vice President-elect Joe Biden was an architect of an earlier assault rifle ban that has since expired only adds to Davies’ concerns. The ban made “evil-looking” weapons illegal.
“I don’t know how they call this evil,” she said holding up the rifle. “Every one of our soldiers has one of these.”
Ian Demsky: 253-597-8872
state GUN SALES, background CHECKS RISE
Here’s a look at some Washington figures that back up anecdotal evidence that gun sales are up this year from last year.
Pistol sales
Month20072008Increase
August6,0846,5868%
September4,4706,48745%
October7,4298,47714%
Concealed carry permit background checks
Month20072008Increase
September1,9813,09656%
October2,3874,29180%
November1,8071,495*
* Through Nov. 13
This may explain why so many reloading components - especially primers - are out of stock at the major Internet sites..
Guy I work with went to one of our smaller local shops for lunch...
Out of stock. Even their pistol case was cleared out.
A 1000 round case of Wolf 7.62 x 39 went from $199 to $279 (on a popular ammo website) in the week following the Messiah’s election victory.
primer are out of stock just about every were in eastern NC I have been buying everyone I can get a good deal on
Of course you can. But for criminals, that is convicted felons, to have any firearm is already a federal crime. O has endorsed reenactment of the Assault Weapons ban, which keeps AK-47s, and if the new and improved verssion embodied in HR 1022, most every other centerfire semiautomatic that can accept a removable magazine, out of the hands of otherwise law abiding citizens.
From BarackObama.com/Urban Issues:
Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.
Gun shows have good stock. Prices a bit higher but the pistols are available and lots of M16 style assault rifles. What I didn’t see this past weekend were the ammunition sellers. All I saw were old boxes of stuff selling for more than Walmart ...
“This may explain why so many reloading components - especially primers - are out of stock at the major Internet sites..”
Yep. I haven’t been able to locate a source of small pistol or large rifle primers anywhere. If you happen to locate some how about send me some freepmail. I will do the same for you if you are looking for any. Thanks.
I don't think the mighty o will do anything for awhile. I don't think Congress will do anything till after the 2010 elections, if then. O wants what every first term prez wants: a second term.
The anti-gunners have proposed both gun and ammo limits for "arsenals". They count primers the same as loaded cartridges. Thus if they pass a limit of, for instance, one thousand rounds of ammo, then one brick of 500 rounds of .22 ammo and 500 primers for centerfire ammo would hit the limit.
The Second Amendment has NOTHING to do with hunting!
Its not fear. Jehova has told me not to.
But I aint gonna be caught short on account of not bein’ able to shoot back.
Roger that..
Are you Brand or Type specific?
All my reloading history is based on Federal Match Primers - Large Rifle and Large Pistol... But it would be a simple trial/error to make adjustments for a different primer..
We still have LOTS of primers - but I would love to add a few thousand more Federal #150M Large Pistol Match and few thousand more Federal #210M large Rifle Match primers.
If I have learned one thing - I mean ONE THING ABOUT MEDIA - it is this:
The media wants to scare the pants off of you.
The news wants to scare the pants off of you.
Viewers aren’t gonna watch if the average nightly news starts out “Well, today was actually pretty calm. Maybe you should go work in your garden for a while, or just take a walk”
The worst is the advertisers. Have you seen the new Verizon commercials where the turkey blows up or the merger falls through or whatever?
All this is DESIGNED to make you unsure and scared about the present but mostly the future.
I’m actually surprised more folks don’t go postal. They live under the impression that they have absolutely no control of their destiny and the people that do are not interested at all in making things good.
I usually use CCI, but at this point I don’t much care.
Federal primers seem to me to be hotter (and not as clean as CCI) but I can drop my loads to compensate, as you suggested.
I will take any brand of small pistol and large rifle primers that I can get my hands on. I’m also looking for shotgun primers but I think they are not quite as hard to find. I’d like to buy a thousand of each.
Thanks for the reply!
Last week a local store sold CCI #200 Large Rifle Primers @ $28.95
8 lb kegs of Varget are back ordered to ship Nov 28 @ $150/Keg
Sierra 2200C .30 cal 168 gr. HPBT Match (500) @ $128.00 are also on backorder.
Been to one lately? I went to one of our local shows last Saturday and they were lined up outside the building 50 yards just to get in. It was like that most of the day. I had never seen it like that before.
Inside the selection of pistols was very slim and I only saw about five or 6 AR 15s. Mostly oddball ARs.
Maybe one or two AK style. Bulk ammo was almost non existant. Any ammo was priced sky high. I thought it was bad during the Clinton assualt weapons ban, but this was much much more intense.
Been to one lately? I went to one of our local shows last Saturday and they were lined up outside the building 50 yards just to get in. It was like that most of the day. I had never seen it like that before.
Inside the selection of pistols was very slim and I only saw about five or 6 AR 15s. Mostly oddball ARs.
Maybe one or two AK style. Bulk ammo was almost non existant. Any ammo was priced sky high. I thought it was bad during the Clinton assualt weapons ban, but this was much much more intense.
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