BILOXI — The Saturday after Barack Obama was elected
president, people jammed Cook's Gun Shop in Biloxi, eager
to purchase the guns they believe might be off limits
beginning next year.
Manager Michael Creel said sales began to increase last
year, but they really ramped up after the election. "It
started about a year ago when the election started to
heat up," he said. "People were afraid that
if the Democrats won, they would institute more control
on guns. It kept building, and the Saturday after the
election it was pandemonium in here."
Gun shop owners and managers throughout south Mississippi
are reporting similar trends, which also are reflected
across the country.
The FBI reported earlier this month that in November
it completed more than 1.5 million background checks,
a 41.6 percent increase over November 2007. When Bill
Clinton was president, he signed a 10-year ban on assault
weapons in 1994, but when it expired, President Bush did
not reactivate it. Many gun owners are afraid that ban
will be put into effect again once Obama takes office
next month.
Kevin Riley, owner of Dad's Super Pawn in Gulfport, said
gun sales began picking up about a month before the election.
He said ammunition sales also have increased. "We're
selling ammunition by the case where we used to sell it
by the box."
