According to FBI data, June and July have consistently been the slowest months
for gun sales during the past decade.
This year is an exception.
William Debow said he has seen more traffic at his store, Ponderosa
Trading Co. in Burke County, since a gunman opened fire on moviegoers in
Aurora, Colo., on July 20. The most requested items are assault-type weapons
and any firearm with high-capacity magazines.
"Aurora has pushed people in because there's more talk about gun
control," DeBow said.
In the week after the shootings, Eddie Walden, the owner of Waldens on
Bobby Jones Expressway, saw an increase in interest in AR-15s -- "more than
what we would normally see."
With calls increasing for stricter gun controls and bans on assault
weapons or high-capacity magazines, people are stocking up on guns and
ammunition, the gun store owners said.
"There's a lot of buying based on fear that they're not going to be able
to get it in the future," Walden said.
He said he has seen an increase in first-time buyers over the past four
years, and the high-profile shootings in Aurora and at a Wisconsin Sikh temple
are only causing those numbers to multiply.
DeBow said he's had customers travel more than an hour to his store
searching for a gun they're confident can save the lives of their loved ones
if need be. Since the Aurora shooting, he's seen a 25 percent increase in
sales of smaller, concealable weapons, most of them from first-time buyers.
Richmond County Probate Court records show increased interest in carry
and concealed-weapons permits since last year.
In 2011, about 1,600 applications were filed for permits. From January to
July of this year, 1,252 were filed, an increase of 300 over that period a
year ago.
According to reports by The Associated Press, that same trend -- more
sales and permit applications -- is happening in many states.
"People are cutting back on a lot of things, but not guns," DeBow said.
Shop owners expect interest in guns to keep growing.
"Election years are always big," Walden said. "There's always a fear that
certain parties will come out with more legislation and gun control."
He's already seeing numbers start to build toward what he was seeing in
2008, when a "ridiculous amount of guns" were coming off the shelves as the
Democratic Party won control of Congress and the White House.
DeBow recalls it being difficult to keep ammunition on the shelves during
election time in 2008. He's expecting to see a similar pattern this year, with
inventory dropping and prices increasing.
