Ohioans are embracing their right to keep and bear arms in record numbers,
mirroring a national trend that means gun manufacturers are making huge
profits which may go higher if President Obama is re-elected.
Smith & Wesson reported record net sales of $136 million in the first
quarter of fiscal 2013, up 48.3 percent from a year ago. The company recently
raised its full-year sales forecast from between $485-$505 million to
$530-$540 million because of consumer demand.
"We are under serving the market at this moment, we all know that, and
that's a great opportunity going forward for us," Smith & Wesson CEO James
Debney said during a recent conference call with analysts.
Sturm, Ruger and Co. reported it built one million firearms by Aug. 15
this year, a number it took nearly all of 2011 to achieve.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Cabela's has two plans for its
holiday gun sales -- one if Obama is re-elected and one if Republican
challenger Mitt Romney is elected.
National and state experts say fear of Obama taking on gun-control issues
in a second term fuels higher sales, more background checks and increased
participation in gun safety courses.
"Since Obama has gotten elected, concealed carry's been huge," said
Shannon Campbell of Campbell's Firearms Training and Gun Accessories in
Miamisburg. "People ask me all the time, it's like, 'So, who you like? You
like Obama? I say yeah, I love him. He's helped my business a lot."
Ohio is on pace to reach unprecedented numbers on issued conceal and
carry permits and federal background checks. Through June, 35,022 new conceal
carry licenses were approved. In all of 2011, the total was 49,828.
Nationally, 11.7 million National Instant Criminal Background Check
System (NICS) checks have been made through August. That's well above the 10.4
million at this time in 2011, which ended with 16.4 million checks, a record.
"I don't know what to attribute that to other than that it's something
that we seem to go through every time there's elections going on," said Toby
Hoover, Executive Director of the Ohio Coaliltion Against Gun Violence.
"There's so much (internal) advertising and so much being put out there by the
NRA people at the top as far as the fear of people taking their guns away."
Hoover provided some National Rifle Association emails she's received
which state things like, "President Barack Obama and the media are conspiring
to DESTROY YOUR FREEDOM" and "Obama is echoing the media propaganda machine by
calling for 'sensible gun control.' You and I know that's code for GUN BANS
and GUN OWNER REGISTRATION."
The reasons for the increase vary depending on the source -- ranging from
fears about Obama's re-election to last year's law enabling conceal and carry
in most restaurants to single women wanting protection.
Two area counties -- Darke and Clark -- have surpassed their 2011
year-end total for handgun permits through half of 2012.
"We're bypassing what we'd had last year. Big time," said Walt Rich, a
retired major and jail administrator who works five hours a day to administer
the CCW paperwork in Darke County, which had issued 487 permits through June
compared to 468 all of last year. "They're just kind of worried about what's
going on.
