2nd Amendment Spike: nation sees upswing in gun, ammo sales

What if?

It’s a question that inevitably crosses millions of minds every day, but in the wake of the tragedies in Aurora, Colo., and Milwaukee, Wis., the what ifs in recent weeks have revolved around firearms, ammunition and the laws that surround them from state to state.

What if gun laws were stricter? What if someone kept track of how much ammunition the suspect had been purchasing over the past several months? What if citizens were stripped of Second Amendment rights?

Or what if someone in the theater had his or her concealed weapons license and was carrying that evening? Could a legitimate gun owner have prevented these shootings by taking out the assailant?

“It’s hard to assume, to say things could have been better or maybe worse if someone at either of these two incidents had his or her concealed weapons permit and was carrying a firearm,” said Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jeremy Granier, who oversees the department’s concealed weapons courses. “It’s difficult and almost irresponsible to say things may have been different. These people were going to commit these crimes with or without stricter gun laws. I don’t know if stricter gun laws would have prevented either incident. The big push across the state right now is ‘see something, say something.’ If you see something unusual or see suspicious activity, alert the authorities.”

Granier, who has been overseeing the concealed-weapons course for more than five years, said the number of concealed-weapons applicants has not gone up locally in the wake of the events.

“The majority of those who come to the concealed weapons class don’t go through with getting the permit,” Granier said. “They just want to learn about gun safety and gun laws.”

In the week after the massacre in Aurora, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations reported a 43 percent increase in the number of firearm background checks from the week prior. Locally and nationally, gun and ammunition sales are on the increase but, unlike 2008, when the presidential election was deemed the reason for the increase, this year’s sales upswing has several factors in range.

“Gun sales began to increase in 2008, as the presidential election approached, and sales continued to increase through 2009 and leveled off in 2010,” said Bill Brassard, director of communications for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. “In 2011 and 2012, they picked up again.”

According to Brassard, the gun industry itself does not keep gun sales figures at the retail level and Brassard cited figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System of background firearm checks.

“One background check does not always equal one gun,” Brassard said. “Someone may have the background check done and not buy the gun, but some may be purchasing more than one gun with one background check.”

In 2008, more than 12.7 million firearm background checks were conducted and, by 2011, the number increased to more than 16.4 million. Figures for the first six months of 2012 were already past the halfway mark of checks for last year, with 8.9 million already conducted. Since 2000, the number of firearm background checks conducted has doubled.

“Increases have been across the board – handguns, shotguns and rifles – but handguns are the most popular, for personal protection,” Brassard said. “In 2008, the increase was driven by a fear of possible restrictions. In recent years, the increases are coming from demobilized military members who are looking for civilian versions of the weapons they had in the service, semiautomatic modern sporting rifles. Firearms retailers area also reporting more female customers.”

Each year, NSSF surveys more than 600 retail firearm establishments, and from 2010 to 2011, 73 percent of the responding retailers had an increase in their number of female customers.

“A 2011 public Gallup poll showed that only 26 percent of American’s favor a handgun ban,” Brassard said. “This is an all-time low. That could also be a factor in the sales increases.”

According to Brassard, these new gun buyers are part of the growing trend of people who are up in arms to bear arms. “This time, more people are interested in exercising their Second Amendment rights, especially after the McDonald and Heller decisions, which both reaffirmed an individual’s right to own a firearm,” he said.

In 2008’s District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment protects a person’s right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes in federal areas for purposes such as self-defense within their home. The case was the first Supreme Court case in the country’s history to rule that the Second Amendment defends a person’s right to keep and bear arms.

The case did not discuss whether the Second Amendment included this right in individual states, and the subject was addressed in 2010’s McDonald v. Chicago. The Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment, the due process clause, and applies to the states.

Local gun store and firearm range see increase in business

In 2011, almost 15,000 Tri-parish residents purchased a resident basic state hunting license, which is required to hunt several animals, the most common being ducks, squirrels and doves. Of these license holders, more than 10,000 purchased a state big game license, which is required to hunt deer, turkey and bobcat. Although using a rifle is the popular method for hunting big game, many hunters use bows as well.

Locally, at least some of the factors increasing firearms sales are bringing customers in to area gun businesses but patrons may not always find what they are looking for on the shelves.

“The stuff we get is in short supply,” said Calvin Provost, owner of Houma Auto Parts. “We can’t always get guns and ammunition customers want, standard ammunition like .38 special and .22 caliber bullets and buckshot, stuff people have for ordinary home protection. People are buying it up and ammo doesn’t go bad if stored properly. People are also coming in for AR-15s, the guns the Army uses. We can’t keep the items long and we can’t replenish them quick enough.”

Provost recalled the firearm sales boom of 2008 and added that many of his customers are concerned about this year’s election as well.

“We called it an Obama year and we’re having another one,” Provost said. “We had the best year we ever had the year he got elected. Gun owners here in south Louisiana panicked, like a hurricane panic. Gun owners are preparing for possible tougher gun laws like they would prepare for a hurricane. Many gun owners are scared of Obama.”

According to Provost’s gun dealers, Supreme Court rulings and an election year aren’t the only factors heating up the gun market.

“One dealer told me that people out west are preparing for Doomsday and the Mayan calendar event,” Provost said. “A store here in town has been stocking Hornady’s Zombie load and they can’t keep it for long. The zombie ammo is a big sale.”

If you want to prepare for the possible zombie apocalypse, remember to get your gun paperwork started before the zombies start showing up in the area.

“You can’t just walk into a store and buy a gun,” Provost said. “The waiting periods and background checks are a good thing, and you want to be sure you are not selling a gun to a criminal.”

Those who already own firearms are helping to drive business at one local gun range.

“Membership has picked up in the last few years,” said Ricky Pellegrin, owner of Southern Shooting Center in Thibodaux. “We have more than 500 members.”

Pellegrin, a champion rifle shooter and avid hunter, has owned the range more than 12 years.

“Customers are worried about what might happen if the president gets re-elected and they are stocking up on guns and ammo,” Pellegrin said. “It’s nice that we have laws that allow us to have weapons and protect our rights to have them but many are worried that government will do something about the right to bear arms. Some are concerned that gun laws will get tighter and restrict access to hunting weapons. I’m concerned that they will change the laws and foreigners will come in here and take our guns.”

Even with the worry of changes, Pellegrin still has a positive outlook on gun control in the Sportsman’s Paradise.

“We have it a lot better here,” Pellegrin said. “Areas up toward the northeast are very anti-gun, like in Chicago. People enjoy themselves here at the shooting range and we’ve even had people come here from other countries to shoot skeet because their laws prohibit them from even having firearms.”

Pellegrin owns shotguns, handguns and rifles, but the short supply of some ammunition does not worry him. “I’m a reloader,” he said.

The politics of the situation

“I haven’t really heard anything about any future changes in gun laws,” said state Rep. Jerry Gisclair (R- Larose). “I think it’s a growing concern nationwide about possible changes in gun control laws and a few individuals are really pushing the issue. It’s nothing to loose sleep over.”

Gisclair, who was once a duck hunter and now mostly sticks to occasional deer hunting trips, is a concealed weapons permit holder.

“Things are getting better with gun control and I am all for the Second Amendment,” Gisclair said. “I don’t care for assault weapons on the streets and those who have their concealed weapons permits should have the proper training through Louisiana State Police, not some third party.”

One of the biggest gun rights lobbying organizations in the country, the National Rifle Association, is keeping an eye on several political situations it views as threats to the Second Amendment.

“The president has undermined the Second Amendment,” said Andy Arulanandam, director of public affairs for the NRA. “He has appointed two anti-gun justices to the Supreme Court and the McDonald and Heller decisions only passed by a 5-4 margin. The president has also helped the Department of Justice in its cover-up of the Fast and the Furious Gun case by using executive privilege. This is unacceptable to gun owners. It’s a slap in the face that no one at the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms was fired over the case.”

The organization is also monitoring a possible change in the United Nation’s Arms Transfer Treaty, a change that could create a global registry of private ownership of firearms.

“We want to strengthen gun rights,” Arulanandam said. “We are concerned about this year’s presidential election and will communicate and educate our members about what the reelection of the president could mean for the Second Amendment all the way up to Nov. 6. Another term, and the deck will be stacked against us.”

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