Firearm sales surging since Obama's election
SALES SOAR | Fear that Obama eventually will restrict availability of firearms triggers a boom at gun stores
Across Illinois, people are sticking to their guns.
Firearm sales have surged in the state since President Obama was elected, mirroring a national trend fueled in part by concerns over the new administration's stance on gun control.
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
"It's like when your radiator blows or your pressure cooker boils, that's the kind of spike we're talking about," said Mark Diaz, manager of the Smoke 'N Gun shop in Waukegan. "The joke is that the president is the No. 1 salesman in the firearm industry."
Nearly 80 percent of active hunters and shooters believe firearm purchases would be "more difficult" with Obama and a Democratic Congress, according to a recent survey by Southwick Associates, a research firm that specializes in fishing and hunting statistics.
Across the country, firearms sales in large retail outlets have jumped 39 percent this year and background checks rose 42 percent just in November, according to data from SportsOneSource and the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
In Illinois, the number of Firearm Owners Identification card applications and Firearm Transfer Inquiry Program background checks rose during the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year.
In November, when Obama won the presidency, the state received 30,304 applications for FOID cards, up about 31 percent from the previous November. Another 30,639 applications were received in December, nearly 73 percent more than were submitted in December 2007.
Illinois gun manufacturers can't keep up with demand as more "closet gun supporters" seek firearms, said Todd Vandermyde, the National Rifle Association's Illinois legislative liaison.
Vandermyde said Obama's "track record'' while a state and U.S. senator, along with Attorney General Eric Holder's suggestion that the assault weapons ban should be reinstituted, have led some people to get guns.
"When you tell people you can't have something, what do they do? They go out and get it," he said.
Diaz noticed gun sales starting to pick up in September. But they really went through the roof -- jumping 200 percent -- on Election Day and the following day, he said.
"I think there's a paranoia that there's going to be a lot more restrictions, what you can buy, when you buy," said Craig Bricco, owner of 1st Class Firearms in Zion. "They're buying everything they can get their hands on."
But gun shop owners say they don't believe weapons are flying off the shelves solely because what some believe will take place on Capitol Hill. They say some people worry about their own safety as the economy worsens, about possible break-ins or violent attacks by laid-off workers.
"People who never bought a gun before are coming in, talking about protecting themselves," Bricco said.
Said Diaz: "Sometimes, we hear the most ridiculous things from behind the counter, things that make you think, 'I never thought of that one.' Someone once came in and said they needed a gun because the world's coming to an end."
Contributing: Dave McKinney
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