orried New Yorkers are looking to pack some heat.Posted on 10/15/2001 3:24:28 AM PDT by kattracks
orried New Yorkers are looking to pack some heat.
Police, lawyers and local gun ranges say they have received almost double the normal number of calls daily from people wanting to buy a gun, get a firearms license or take shooting lessons since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"Absolutely," said Don Spallone, manager of the Woodhaven Rifle and Pistol Range in Queens. "We've been getting calls constantly about the licensing procedure."
"After the 11th, things were quiet for a week," said Darren Leung, co-owner of the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range on W. 20th St. in Manhattan. "Now we're getting more and more calls every day from people who want to know how to go about getting a gun."
It could be a national trend.
Guns Selling Fast
Jon Board, firearms instructor at the National Survival Store in Las Vegas, said customers are snatching up handguns in the $100-$200 range as fast as the shop can stock them.
It was unclear how many of the local callers would actually go on to secure gun permits. New York City's gun permit process is particularly arduous — requiring reams of paperwork, fingerprint and background checks, which can take six to eight months to complete.
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| Gunning for Bin Laden: Manhattan pistol range offers an Osama target. |
Sgt. Steven Oteri of the NYPD's licensing division said that although calls have increased there has not been a similar increase in applications, primarily because 1 Police Plaza, where that office is located, was off-limits to civilians for several weeks after the World Trade Center attack.
He expected better figures to be available this week.
Lawyer John Chambers, a former prosecutor who helps clients negotiate the city's gun licensing process, said he also has received more queries about the procedure.
"We're seeing a 30 to 40% increase in queries," Chambers said. "We're finding since Sept. 11 that we're getting more calls from people who want to have a gun in the home to protect their families." Spallone said many of the recent inquiries at the Woodhaven Rifle and Pistol Range have come from lower Manhattan residents who "live close to where the devastation occurred."
Many are discouraged when they learn about the licensing process. "You can't even fire a gun here without a license," Spallone said.
More Target Practice
Leung said that in addition to the increase in phone inquiries at Westside Rifle and Pistol Range he has noticed more club members and police — particularly state police stationed in the city — coming in for target practice.
His partner, Robert Derrig, said customers are also stocking up on ammunition — and not the solid-projectile practice rounds but people-stopping, hollow-point bullets.
Pepper spray is also a hot item, Derrig said.
"People want to protect their families," Leung said. "This is not to say people don't have faith in the police. They just want to make sure they can take care of their families."
New York City residents aren't the only ones making their way to gun dealers. Leung said a Rochester arms distributor he deals with said he sold 400,000 rounds of ammunition in one week, more than he typically sold in a year.
Pump-action shotguns also were flying off the shelves of the upstate distributor, Leung said.
Board said National Survival Store customers are snatching up 9-mm. and .45-caliber pistols. "They aren't interested in carrying a gun for personal protection," Board said. "This is more like impulse, panic buying."
That way the NRA gets more funding, this is just the way liberals would take advantage of the situation.
We may not be able to convert them into true believers, but at least we would have the mandated funding to run the program.
As has been said on this forum the last month:
The sheeple are waking up.
Let's hope they stay that way.
Why do I get the feeling that a bunch of us use this tactic?
True; however, maybe now they will begin to see the error in their ways. Maybe.
Every time the latest catastrophe (Be it man made or natural) hits California this happens.
A short while later the state legislature is always back to business. Heck, they passed yet another anti-freedom gun-hating law in the aftermath of September 11th. They used the distraction of the press as cover.
A somewhat different tactic works with a new bird dog, though. Pick up your new pointer or setter puppy at the age of seven weeks, take it home, push it through the front door, close the door, ring the bell, and leave for several hours. When you get back, the puppy will be the newest member of your household.
You may be out on your ear, but the puppy will be IN!
I agree with your conclusion. This run on guns is a hysterical and ineffective response to terrorist action. Of course, if it is the beginning a vigilante action against the evil foreigners amongst us, then ........
Boonie Rat
MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-66
Much like going out to dinner with the wife (outfit, shoes, jewelry, "Honey, you look great, new outfit?" "No, I got this for XXXXX's wedding last year, don't you remember? (of course I don't remember, Hell I don't even remember the wedding!))
On election day you get to choose from the lesser of two evils; both being evil nontheless.
I use the opposite tactic occasionally. One evening I walked in with a M2 receiver and flopped it down on the floor. To the outraged "What the hell is that?"
I replied, "Half a gun - I have to go back and get the barrel out of the car"
The basic question that came next was "What do you need one of those for?"
Answer was "I dont need it. I wanted it, I could afford it, so I bought it." I keep threatening to get a medium caliber weapon (Unfortunately, that's not feasible since '68, but she doesn't know that), so when I get anything smaller, there aren't too many objections
"customers are snatching up handguns in the $100-$200 range"
$100-200? Pellet guns?
"People want to protect their families," Leung said. "This is not to say people don't have faith in the police."
They don't have faith in the police.
"customers are snatching up 9-mm. and .45-caliber pistols. "They aren't interested in carrying a gun for personal protection,"
Oh, yeah, gee, they're not interested in personal protection. They're taking that .45 to go duck hunting.
It will be interesting to see if the gunlaws do change. More importantly I hope that the saner members of our U.S. Supreme Court are reading these articles and seeing that the 2nd Amendment must survive.
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