On concerns over gun control, gun sales are up

Sales of handguns, rifles and ammunition have surged in the last week, according to gun store owners around the nation who describe a wave of buyers concerned that an Obama administration will curtail their right to bear arms. "He's a gun-snatcher," said Jim Pruett, owner of Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo in northwest Houston, which was packed with shoppers on Thursday. "He wants to take our guns from us and create a socialist society policed by his own police force," added Mr. Pruett, a former radio personality, of President-elect Barack Obama. Mr. Pruett said that sales last Saturday, just before Election Day, ran about seven times higher than a typical good Saturday. A spot check by reporters in four other states easily found Mr. Pruett's comments echoed from both sides of the counter. David Nelson, a co-owner of Montana Ordnance & Supply in Missoula, Mont., said his buyers were "awake and aware and see a dangerous trend." Mr. Nelson said sales at his store had risen about 30 percent since Mr. Obama declared his candidacy. "People are concerned about overreaching legislation from Washington," he said. "They are educating themselves on the Internet." In Colorado, would-be gun buyers set a one-day record last Saturday with the highest number of background check requests in a 24-hour period, according to figures from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. "We're not really sure who is promoting the concept that a change in federal administrations might affect firearms possession rights," said an agency spokesman, Lance Clem, "but we do know that it's increased business considerably." Federal law-enforcement officials cautioned that gun sales were extremely volatile. Nationally, rifle and handgun sales surged 17 percent, for example, in May, compared with May 2007, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation figures. That was before Mr. Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination. Sales then fell and were essentially flat by September compared with the year before, even as the campaign heated up, before rising 14 percent in October. November figures were not yet available. What is clear is that every gun seller–not to mention every advocacy group for gun ownership that depends on dues-paying members–has an incentive to stoke the concern that can prompt a gun sale. Political uncertainty, gun dealers say, is great for business. "Clinton was the best gun salesman the gun manufacturers ever had," said Rick Gray, owner of the Accuracy Gun Shop in Las Vegas. "Obama's going to be right up there with him." Sales at his shop doubled on Wednesday, Mr. Gray said, to more than 20 guns from three to 10 on a typical day. Asked if that made him root for Democratic candidates, Mr. Gray said no. "It's not all about profits; it's about what's he going to do for the country," he said, noting that he had supported Senator John McCain, who was the Republican nominee. A National Rifle Association spokesman, Wayne LaPierre, dismissed the notion that the group had any incentive to increase gun sales or membership. "Ridiculous," Mr. LaPierre said. "I hope President-elect Obama keeps his promises and protects gun rights. If he does that, we'll be cheering." The political battle over guns raged fiercely throughout the campaign in many states where gun ownership is common. On Monday, the day before the election, home-delivered copies of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette arrived in plastic bags that said, "Vote Freedom First" and "Defend Freedom–Defeat Obama." The bags were paid for by the N.R.A., whose initials were printed on each one. Democrats fired back all over the country, with mail campaigns in many states with fliers stating flatly that as president, Mr. Obama would respect an individual's right to own guns. "Obama will protect our gun rights," said one flier sent to homes in Minnesota. In Montana, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, was photographed shooting his guns outdoors. But some gun buyers and sellers never forgot, or forgave, Mr. Obama's widely reported comment in April to a group in San Francisco that some Americans "cling to guns or religion" in times of adversity. "It was an annoying comment, and it showed there's a lot more to him," said Mike Warner, 38, of Las Vegas, who was shopping for a gun there on Thursday. Mr. Warner said he was an N.R.A. member and an owner of two guns but wanted at least one more. Other people, even some shopping for guns, said they thought that some gun enthusiasts' fears about Mr. Obama were unjustified. James Sykes, a gun collector who was shopping at the Gun Room in Lakewood, Colo., called the rush to buy guns "a lot of hysteria about very little." Mr. Sykes, who said he had voted mostly Republican in the past but supported Mr. Obama this year, said that issues like war and the global economic crisis were more pressing for him right now and that he imagined the same was true for Mr. Obama. "My Second Amendment rights are unquestionably important to me, but so is feeding my family," he said. "In reality, you won't be able to afford to buy a gun if your job goes overseas." But markets, whether for guns or stocks and bonds, tend to move with their own internal dynamics even in–perhaps especially in–gloomy economic times.