Post-election, business booming for area gun merchants

MAT-SU — President-elect Barack Obama’s victory on Tuesday has apparently boosted gun sales around the Lower 48 and here in the Mat-Su Valley.

Reports from across the country tell of gun enthusiasts stocking up on firearms out of fear Obama and a Democrat-heavy Congress would enact tougher gun laws.

Evidence of the concern can also be seen in the Mat-Su Valley, as gun shop owners try to keep up with demand from a sharp rise in customers.

At Chimo Guns in Wasilla on Friday, owner Roy Wallis said he’s been non-stop busy since Tuesday. The increase in gun sales for his business has been dramatic.

“It’s the biggest I’ve ever seen,” Wallis said.

Wallis said his customers are telling him they’re afraid for their gun rights with Obama in power and want to stock up now before his inauguration on Jan. 20.

“They’re afraid there will be a handgun and assault rifle ban,” Wallis said.

So that’s just what his customers are buying, particularly assault rifles, which seem to be flying off the shelves, Wallis said.

Asked if the new president has stoked fears of increased gun control, Wallis didn’t mince words.

“Obama is definitely driving some of these sales,” he said.

The Associated Press reports that in October, as Obama’s win looked increasingly likely, there was a 25 percent increase in background checks for gun purchases over the same time last year.

The National Rifle Association, during Obama’s campaign, warned voters he would be the most anti-gun president in United States history. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, told The Associated Press he thinks the Democratic sweep of Congress has sparked the recent increase in gun sales.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to stand up to that anti-Second Amendment wing of the Democratic Party that’s just been spoiling for chance to ban America’s guns,” LaPierre said, referring to Obama.

At A-1 Pawn Shop in Wasilla, employee Dan Hermans said he’s received numerous calls from concerned customers.

“We see this a lot when there’s a Democratic president,” Hermans said, adding that his customers don’t seem so concerned with gun rights; rather, with what the government might do that would affect the cost of guns and ammunition.

“They’re afraid the government will make it unaffordable,” he said.

Obama has publicly stated that he favors “common sense” gun laws. But gun enthusiasts often interpret that stance as a threat to their ownership of handguns and assault rifles. During his time as an Illinois state legislator, Obama supported a semi-automatic weapons ban and tighter restrictions on other firearms.

What he’ll do as president, if anything, is still unclear. What is clear from local and national reports is gun enthusiasts are concerned.

Wallis admits to sudden rush on firearms is surprisingly abrupt. “This is a little out of the ordinary.”