Sales of weapons and firearms parts have been brisk this week for Todd Bruning, a development that is as predictable as dark clouds and rain.
All it took for buyers to scramble cash in hand to his Lambertville firearms store, Todd’s Guns LLC, was a mass homicide tragedy Sunday in Orlando, Fla., followed by politicians calling for tighter gun controls.
“That’s always what does it. The same thing happened after Sandy Hook,” Mr. Bruning said, referring to shootings in December, 2014, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 children and six adults were killed by a single gunman.
President Obama is “the salesman of the century,” Mr Bruning said. “Every time he opens his mouth, sales [of guns] go up.”
An assailant staged a mass shooting inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, early Sunday. The shooter was killed by police three hours later, but first he had killed 49 people and wounded 53 others.
The shooter used a Sig Sauer MCX assault rifle, although police earlier misidentified the weapon as an AR-15 automatic rifle.
In the aftermath of the attack, the President called on Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons and on Wednesday, some Republican senators said they were open to changing the nation’s gun laws.
On Wednesday morning, buyers bought two AR-15s and assorted parts (including firing mechanisms) at Mr. Bruning’s store. Depending on make and model, an AR-15 can cost from $600 up to several thousand dollars.
“The ARs are going through the roof. Sales are strong for the week so far,” said Mr. Bruning, who also teaches gun-safety classes. Several buyers were purchasing parts to assemble their own assault rifles because if restrictions are passed, the parts will be grandfathered in, he added.
Keith Helminski, owner of Shooters of Maumee, a public gun range, said he spoke with several gun wholesalers on Wednesday who indicated they expect a surge in gun sales because of calls for gun control.
“I think the smart money is hedging. They said they are building up some inventory just in case,” Mr. Helminski said. “It’s mostly driven by the elected officials on the boob tube.”
Mr. Helminski said the talk of legislation by Congress doesn’t drive sales so much as speeches by the President.
“Most gun owners are not afraid of legislation as it goes through the regular process because there’s a lot of give and take and it takes time to get laws passed,” he said. “But an executive order [by the President] that could change things overnight, that’s what scares people.”
Data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check database confirms Mr. Helminski’s assertion that political rhetoric drives sales. Background checks are initiated when a gun sale occurs.
According to the FBI, four of the top 10 highest days of firearm background checks occurred within 10 days of the Sandy Hook shootings. Of the top 10 highest weeks for background checks, the top two were the week of and the week after the Sandy Hook shootings. There are no figures yet for this week.
While sales were brisk at Todd’s Guns, other local dealers said they saw no unusual sales activity or were not sure if higher sales were because of the Orlando tragedy.
At Cleland’s Outdoor World, gunsmith Chad Cleland said sales were up a little this week. But the store is having a planned annual sale, so he wasn’t sure what was driving higher sales.
A sales clerk at Parabellum Tactical Defense Solutions in Toledo said business was “the same as usual” this week, while Dave Serwin, owner of a small store, Dave Serwin Guns, of Fremont, said he, too, saw no increase.
“But I’ve heard a lot of places are busy right now, as you might probably expect,” Mr. Serwin added.
Spokesmen for big box chains Gander Mountain and Cabela’s, which both sell the Sig Sauer MCX, and Bass Pro Shops all declined to comment, saying information relating to sales was proprietary information that they do not disclose.
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.
First Published June 16, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
