Gun shops are reporting an increase in sales in recent months as part of a national trend which has seen sales of firearms skyrocket amid national news stories including the global coronavirus pandemic, anti-racist and anti-police brutality protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, and civil unrest.
Cowen Research, a market intelligence firm, reported last week that background checks for U.S. guns, used as a proxy for gun sales in the absence of more reliable data, had increased by 69 percent in April and 75 percent in May, with percentages reaching 94 percent for handguns.
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“If we had anything in stock, they’d buy everything out,” said Dave Long, who owns Unicorn’s Armory, a guns and ammunition store in Bristol Township’s Croydon section. “It was the virus, then everybody’s rioting and stuff like that. They start out with peaceful intentions, then outside groups come in.
Long, who has owned his business for 15 years, said the first surge had come amidst the pandemic with sales increasing further as civil unrest has spread across the country.
“For the first month with the virus, people were scared. We had big crowds off the bat. Then they trickled down to a few people an hour, then after that gentleman was killed, customers coming in went right through the roof,” he said.
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“People who were against guns in the past now feel vulnerable because the police can’t be there all at once,” Long stated. “A lot of them are first-time buyers.”
Outside the Lower Bucks Government Service Center in Bristol Township lines have been spotted with people waiting in line to apply for concealed carry licenses.
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Jiten Patel, a Bensalem resident, said that he was “not a fan of owning guns, but yes, due to the latest chaos, rather be safe than sorry, so plan on getting couple pieces soon.”
More than 2 million Americans became first-time gun owners over the past year, with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group, claiming 40 percent of buyers in the first four months of 2020 had never before purchased a gun, according to a press release.
This fact has raised alarm among those who study gun violence and support firearms legislation.
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“This has been a combustible mix of the pandemic and the soaring gun purchases, especially people having to shelter at home,” said Marie Rosenberg, chairperson of Bucks Safe, a local safety advocacy group. “The pressure is on families. When you add guns to that, particularly first-time gun buyers … the potential for increased domestic violence and suicide is really a concern.”
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that male first-time gun owners were eight times more likely to kill themselves with a firearm than non-owners, with women 35 times more likely, according to the New York Times.
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In the most recent Gallup poll, conducted this year, 42 percent of Americans said the country should have stronger gun laws, with just 9 percent backing less restrictive policies. 37 percent of
Americans claimed to own a firearm according to a 2019 poll from the same source.
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“I recently bought two when the riots started to happen here in Philly,” said Dannielle Michels, owner of the newly opened landscaping firm TDBully. “I don’t like guns and never wanted to own one, but owning our own business and having a home, I got them both for protection only.”
Rosenberg said she understands the fears of those going out to purchase weapons, but that in many cases they were the result of misperceived media coverage of the recent demonstrations.
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“If you’re constantly watching the news, you get the picture there is more violence in your area than there actually is. The preponderance of marches have been very peaceful in the area,” she said.
Peaceful protests throughout Lower Bucks County have not seen property destruction and looting which critics say has marred major cities including Philadelphia.
“I don’t own one and didn’t feel the need to buy one,” wrote Lisa Lichon, an Abington, Montgomery County, resident. “I have no desire to cause injury to others to defend material objects. There is nothing in my store that I value over human life. The protest in our area are also peaceful right now.”
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“It also takes bold action for drastic change,” she added. “I don’t support rioting and looting but it is pushing major changes that may not have occurred otherwise.”
Business Insider reported that the potential of a Joe Biden presidency could see gun sales rise ever higher. Biden’s platform calls for stricter regulations on firearms. Gun stocks crashed in 2016 following the unexpected victory of Donald Trump, a Republican who rejects most gun control legislation.
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A plurality of Americans surveyed under the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, believed that he would ban guns if he could, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll from 2013, leading to a surge in sales.
“Obama was the best gun salesman we’ve had in a long time,” Long said.
However, Long claims the combination of the coronavirus and the protest movement have already created a greater increase in sales.
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“This outdoes anything Obama did, this has been the tops. I have a hard time keeping in stock.”
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