Sales of guns and ammo surge

Prospects of legislation lead to bare shelves and rationing

Ron Brown rings up a sale earlier this month for a customer who bought several ammunition magazines for AR-15 and AK-47 assault rifles at Don’s Weaponry in North Little Rock.
Ron Brown rings up a sale earlier this month for a customer who bought several ammunition magazines for AR-15 and AK-47 assault rifles at Don’s Weaponry in North Little Rock.

— A surge in gun and ammunition sales in the wake of proposals for stricter gun laws have led many retailers across the nation and in central Arkansas to put limits on how much ammunition their customers can buy.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Thursday that the company is restricting customers from buying more than three boxes of ammunition per day, spokesman Ashley Hardie said. Bullseye Guns & Ammo, a Little Rock gun shop, is restricting customers to one box per day.

John Huntley, who manages Bullseye, said the rationing is a result of consumers buying up what they can ahead of any possible gun legislation.

“Everybody is scared to death with what is going to happen with the people in power right now,” said John Huntley, manager of Bullseye Guns & Ammo at 205 N. Shackleford Road. “It’s tough on the consumer, but the consumer is in a frenzied state right now to buy.”

It’s simply a guessing game on how much legislators will “take away from law-abiding citizens,” he said.

After the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults dead, President Barack Obama announced 23 executive orders in hopes of curbing gun violence.

On Thursday, Democratic lawmakers proposed a bill renewing a 1994 ban on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The original law expired in 2004, and lawmakers are looking to tighten the restrictions this go-around.

The prospect of tighter regulations, and the accompanying surge in sales, has added stress to an already booming industry. Ammunition sales have increased 11 percent nationwide in the last decade, growing to $1.51 billion, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation records. The foundation is a trade association for the gun industry. The demand goes hand-in-hand with gun ownership, as more women and returning servicemen are buying weapons, said Michael Bazinet, the foundation’s director of public affairs. Many more people are also returning to hunting sports, he said.

He said some areas may be seeing “spot shortages” because of the high demand. “Ammunition makers are working hard to meet the consumer demand,” Bazinet said.

“What this is ... the manufacturers and dealers are inundated with people panic buying,” said Don Hill, owner of Don’s Weaponry in North Little Rock. “They [congressmen] have caught the whole industry by surprise.”

Since about mid-December, Hill has had $700,000 worth of items on back order. He sold 1,000 pounds of powder - normally a three-month supply - in three days.

“Many of my shelves are just bare. My revolvers are gone and powders are dwindling. My .223, .22 and 9mm ammo is all gone. My .308 is about gone,” he said. “And I had one hell of a back-stock.”

Hill said he has always ordered almost double of what he actually needs, adding that he should’ve ordered triple. Though he hasn’t resorted to restricting purchases yet, he may eventually have to. He is expecting a shipment of high capacity magazines Monday and if he doesn’t get a large amount, he might turn to a form of rationing.

Huntley said sales at Bullseye began climbing after the November presidential election.

“It’s every aspect of everything: parts, guns, magazines. Even holsters,” Huntley said. “They’re [federal government] messing with the market for law-abiding citizens.”

The shortages are exasperating for consumers who sometimes have to go to multiple locations to buy the ammunition they need. He said he has had back orders for months that haven’t arrived yet.

“They trickle in, but it’s not enough to go around,” he said.

The store isn’t doing layaways on any high-capacity items and isn’t taking back orders, Huntley said.

“If something happens, we feel we might have to give away money for refunds,” he said. “We just don’t know what the future is going to be.”

Hill, who has been in the weapons industry for 30 years, said the surge in sales isn’t exactly uncharted territory for gun retailers. His store saw high demand for weapons and ammo when Obama first took office in 2009. The current situation isn’t as bad as four years ago, he said.

“There wasn’t a threat to the sporting industry,” he said, adding any new laws will “affect only the honest man.”

Hill said the hype should start to calm down within three months as items start trickling in, but he doesn’t expect the industry to fully recover for another nine months.

“Just bear with us,” he said. “We’ll weather the storm.”

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/28/2013

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