State Gun Sales Increase

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Many retailers are seeing sales decline right now, but not gun retailers. Gun sales are through the roof and it's not because prices have suddenly dropped.

Without question it is with a Democrat moving into the White House and Democrats solidifying their control of Congress, Oklahoma gun owners see a threat to a sacred constitutional right.

"I'm kind of worried," Paul Boensch said. "With Barack Obama being president, or going to be president, that our second amendment rights must be compromised."

Paul and his wife Jamie are gun owners who worry that the new administration might try to restrict their right to bear arms.

"They've already talked about, you know, reinstating or reenacting the Brady Bill, which would make it difficult for us to obtain rifles and some of the other guns that we really would like," Paul said.

And the Boenschs are definitely not alone. H&H Gun Range owner Miles Hall said business the last few days has been a blast.

"Most dealers will sell two or three, to 10 guns in a day maybe, somewhere in there, and suddenly you're now into triple digits, you know," Hall said. "It's a huge difference."

Hall said half the buyers are first-time gun buyers. He said the gun culture, in general, is nervous about what might happen, and isn't taking any chances.

"Why put off to tomorrow, I guess, is their thinking," Hall said. "At least that's what we're hearing from most of them when they come through is, ‘We don't want to wait, we want to do this now'."

Count the Boenschs among those not wanting to wait and see what the new President does; the time to load up is now.

"We don't know what's going to happen, but you might as well be prepared because we've seen things happen in the past, so it's to be prepared," Jamie said.

For the record, Barack Obama has said he favors a renewed ban on semi-automatic weapons, but also, throughout the campaign, said he supports the 2nd Amendment, and even received the endorsement of the American Hunters and Shooters Association.

The federal government's assault weapons ban prohibited the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms for a 10-year period. It expired in 2004.