Gun debate heats up as weapon sales skyrocket
Linda Sappington
Daniel Martynowicz
An employee of RimRock Bullets in Ronan holds a handful of newly-cast bullets.The bullet manufacturer, which does not make ammunition, has seen a jump in sales over the past several weeks.
Berl Tiskus
A gun owner sights in a firearm at the Polson Shooting Range in 2011.
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After the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults dead at the hands of gunman Adam Lanza, Washington D.C. politicians from both sides of the aisle and President Obama pledged action in the form of new, stricter gun legislation.
Gun stores in every corner of the United States have seen record sales as a result of the proposed legislation.
Gun retailers
Frank Brown has owned and operated RimRock Bullets in Ronan for eight years. The company manufactures cast lead bullets for commercial and home loading, but does not make ammunition. Over the past few years, Brown said he’s seen an increase in sales of about 25 percent.
When word of the proposed legislation made mainstream media headlines last month, Brown’s business increased another 25 percent, effectively equalling his business’ growth over the past three years.
“I believe it’s because people are scared that they’re not going to be able to get this stuff,” Brown said. “I think they’re afraid the government is going to stop everything. Personally, I just can’t believe that. For one thing, there’s too many people employed in the gun industry.”
Brown said he’d heard of gun and ammunition stores in other parts of the state limiting customers to two boxes of ammunition each — not to increase business or profits, but to make sure everyone gets some.
Brown isn’t concerned about the effect proposed legislation might have on his business, as assault-style rifles do not generally use his product. In fact, it might actually help his business if gun owners are unable to get the ammunition they need and go back to revolvers and other older firearm styles.
Brown’s son Frankie works with his father and said he saw a similar buying panic following the 2008 election. Sales eventually leveled off, and business returned to normal.
“A lot of people used to reload, or their dad used to reload, and now they can’t find ammunition, so they’re digging out all the reloading stuff. That’s great for us, because we can supply them, but now it’s becoming difficult to find primers and powder,” he said.
Ronan Sports and Western gun shop employee Mark Lee said the country is in the midst of “what I would refer to as a lot of ‘buying panic.’”
“We didn’t carry a lot of the AR-type rifles, but everything we had went out the door in a hurry. Magazines are just about impossible to find now; everything we had went, and handguns have been selling pretty fast. As far as ammunition, there’s certain calibers like .223 and 9mm, a lot of reloading components like powder and brass that are next to impossible to get,” he said.
While sales have slowed in recent weeks, Lee attributes this to the demand outweighing the supply.
“Even (with) .22 long rifle ammo, we’re limiting people to two bricks because supply is getting low and we don’t want to run out and not have any,” Lee said.
Customers have called and driven to the store from as far away as Missoula and Kalispell in search of .223 ammunition.
“We had a pretty good supply of .223 ammo, but it’s gone down quite a bit ... We had some last week, but it was gone in one day,” he said.
Rick Ochsner owns and operates Axmen Firearms in Missoula. He estimates that his store’s business has tripled over the last of weeks — a comfortable estimate of 300 percent increased sales across the board.
Surprisingly, Ochsner doesn’t like the massive spike in sales.
“It’s not good. If the other gun dealers are telling you that it’s a good thing for business, I think they’re missing something; it’s temporary,” Ochsner said. “I would rather have good business for 20 years than outstanding business for 12 weeks.”
Ochsner said he’s having trouble getting products on his shelves, and that prices have increased on all fronts — manufacturer, distributor, retailer and wholesaler — and said he also saw a sharp spike in sales after President Obama’s election in 2008.
“I’ve seen it over the years,” he said. “Anytime there’s talk of regulating something or people say something will not be afforded to them or will not be available to them anymore, there’s always a concern.
“If Hostess had realized that Twinkie sales would go up like they did, they would have announced that they were going out of business much sooner.”
All three retailers have seen prices increase in different buying panics through the years, but they all have a different opinion of where this particular scare is going.
“It’s not paranoia,” Ochsner said. “There’s a very informed society now due to the media outlets we have. News travels at the blink of an eye ... Because of the Internet, so much stuff is out there that I think people know more of what’s going on in the world today than they did 10 years ago.”
Many political pundits, politicians and citizens alike cite hunting as the major reason why they need firearms and, specifically, assault rifles. Ochsner said this is a silly notion, as most hunters do not use assault rifles.
“It has nothing to do with hunting,” Ochsner said. “Most people have (assault rifles) because they enjoy using them at a sporting event or having them for home defense.
“Basically, if you look up the history of the Bill of Rights and the reason for the people’s right to keep and bear arms was because King George and all his people had weapons and our forefathers had none. They never wanted that to happen again. They never wanted either a domestic or foreign government to be able to do that again. The Bill of Rights never talked about hunting; they never brought that up. They did talk about how they should always be able to protect themselves from foreign and domestic governments. And that is the point.”
Sheriffs react
County sheriffs from around the country have issued press releases and sent President Obama and members of Congress passionate letters stating they will not uphold any law infringing on the rights of those under their charge. Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel and Lake County Sheriff Jay Doyle have joined the cause as news broke last week that 28 of Utah’s 29 county sheriffs will not enforce new gun control laws. In New Mexico, 30 of the state’s 33 sheriffs have done likewise, sending letters to their representatives in the state government reminding them of their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The tactic appears to have worked, as legislators recently struck down a bill aimed at extending background checks to those purchasing a gun at a show or from another private individual.
Many of these sheriffs issued their statements only after residents began asking them about their stance on new gun control legislation. These declarations coincide with the nationwide buying panic, subsequent ammunition and weapon shortage and speak to a greater fear amongst the general public: Will the government take away our guns?
Enforcement
According to a Dec. 17 article in the Washington Post, the federal agency tasked with enforcing gun control laws is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The ATF has not had a confirmed director in six years, since Congress required the position be approved by the Senate. It also has fewer than 2,500 agents. These agents are tasked with investigating weapons trafficking and regulating firearm sales across 60,000 gun retailers nationwide.
The National Institute of Justice reports that in 2009, Americans owned an estimated 410 million firearms — about one gun for every United States citizen. There is no computerized federal database listing gun owners or their place of residence.
The article reports that some stores can expect a visit from the ATF once every eight years.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates the firearm industry has an economic impact of $31.8 billion per year. The ATF operates on a $1.1 billion budget.
When asked about the possible role of the FBI in enforcing new gun control legislation, Stephen G. Fischer Jr, the Multimedia Productions Chief for the FBI’s CJIS Division responded in an email, “The FBI’s role is to operate and maintain the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System.) As such, we do not comment on matters such as the one you mention."
The three closest FBI field offices to Montana are Portland, Wash., Seattle, Wash., and Salt Lake City, Utah. All three field offices declined to comment on the matter.
Next Week
President Obama issued 23 executive orders regarding gun control and is taking a tour of the country to garner public support for the orders. Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed legislation aimed at stopping the sale, manufacture and importation of 158 specifically named military style firearms and ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. These issues will be discussed in the third installment of this series on the ongoing gun debate in America.
