The threat that Congress could vote to reinstate the 1994 “assault weapons” ban has increased demand, diminished supply, and overpopulated gun shows.
There was a consistent line to enter the three-day Lansing/ Mason Gun and Knife Show held at the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason, Mich., from Feb. 8-10. One gun dealer said there is usually a line at the beginning of the first day, but never anything to this extreme.
Two major ammunition dealers agreed that people are just stockpiling ammunition, because they fear what legislation may pass next. Accordingly, certain types of ammunition are scarce and prices have skyrocketed.
“There was a huge increase [in gun show attendance] after the first [Barack Obama] election. Then towards the end of Obama’s first term, it started picking up again because of the worry of him being reelected. Then after all the shootings and the media coverage of them, it’s really gone off the charts,” said Doug Carl, owner of Sports Show Promotions Inc.
Carl’s organization hosts approximately 46 gun and knife shows per year in the state of Michigan, and he’s been in the business for 30 years. Sports Show Promotions Inc. even held a few gun shows at Hillsdale College in the past. He said that every one of the tables for rent at his shows are sold out.
While Carl does foresee the government closing the “private sale loophole,” making it illegal for a gun transaction to happen between two private citizens without the proper background check, he is not worried about the assault weapons ban passing.
“Large capacity magazines, they may try to do something with that,” he said. “But it would be a waste of time because there are billions of them out there already.”
AR-15s and high capacity magazines are especially hot items right now in wake of the shooting in Newtown, Conn. Most reports confirm that the Newtown shooter had an AR-15 rifle with multiple high-capacity magazines at the crime scene. So naturally, these are the items most people believe the government will target next.
“Notice that one of the features of every mass shooting incident so far has been the apparently total absence of legally armed citizens,” said Patricia Bart, firearms instructor and assistant professor of English at Hillsdale College. “Maybe we should think more of an obligation to bear arms in the short run.”
Jennifer and Rich Storing own a gun store in Livingston county and were at the gun show mostly selling AR-15 accessories. Jennifer Storing said that before the Connecticut shooting, they sold a standard 30 round magazine for approximately $15 each. Now they are priced at $50 each and the Storings are selling out each show.
Jennifer Storing believes that the ban will go through, especially on the magazines.
“People want to buy AR-15s too, but they aren’t even sure what they are buying,” Jennifer Storing said.
AR-15s use to cost roughly $800 each, the Storings were selling them for $2,350 on Saturday.
“All this craziness helps then hurts this industry,” Rich Storing said, “Any time government gets involved to ban anything, the demand goes up and the media sensationalizes and fuels these incidents.”
Gunsmith and Vietnam War veteran Douglas Goerlitz said he thinks there are plenty of gun laws already, and the government just needs to enforce them.
“Most of us are law-abiding citizens,” he said. “The crooks are going to do what they do, laws or not.”
Like many others, Goerlitz talked about the Second Amendment right to bear arms. “It’s really about militia and being able to protect your state from internal or external threat.”
Carl said he believes that the Second Amendment is the most important amendment next to the First Amendment. “In order to keep the first, we need the second.”
Everyone thinks they have a solution to preventing the kind of violence America witnessed in Newtown, Conn. While some in Congress will vote on additional gun regulations, others are buying out the gun shows in preparation for their decision.
Bart gave a quieter, yet proactive suggestion.
“Be generous with your friendships, and show an active concern for those who seem to need a hand well in advance of when you would have to rely on your Second Amendment rights,” she said. “Those rights are indeed sacrosanct, yet they are best suited to a people who find that they need to exercise them only rarely.”
