http://www.newsvirginian.com/wnv/news/local/article/virginians_stock_up_on_guns_ammunition/37913/
Virginians stock up on guns, ammunition



There was an argument. "One guy's coming over his shoulder trying to
grab" his can of 500 rounds of ammo, recalled Josh Golden, a gun and
ammo dealer who was selling items at the Richmond Gun Show that day on
Nov. 15. "They were his, and he was going to let him know that they
were his."




In November, firearms transactions spiked about 60 percent over
November 2007 in Virginia, and they're up so far this year, too,
according to the number of state police background checks for firearm
purchases.




Also, dealers in Virginia and elsewhere say ammunition sales are soaring and it is difficult to keep certain items in stock.




The reasons: worries about what President Barack Obama and a
Democrat-controlled Congress might do with gun legislation, about the
possible return of the assault-weapons ban and about increased crime
during the recession.




In Virginia, background checks increased 19 percent in 2008 over the
previous year. Across the nation, the increase was 13.7 percent. The
number of concealed-handgun permits issued in Virginia last year was up
34.7 percent over 2007.




Gun sales increased in Virginia in the 1990s before the federal ban
on assault weapons began. The ban expired in 2004, but several dealers
and customers voiced concern at a Showplace gun show this month that
Congress might bring it back.




Bill McKaig, a competitive target shooter from Chesterfield County,
worries that "anti-marksmanship" Democrats will try to eliminate the
sport by making it difficult to own assault-style, semiautomatic rifles
such as the AR-15, which is the civilian version of the military's
M-16.




"That's what everybody's afraid of," McKaig said at the gun show at
the Showplace Exhibition Center off Mechanicsville Turnpike in Henrico
County.




Dave Settle, an elevator maintenance worker from Rappahannock County
who had bought some ammunition at the Showplace, said he was worried
the government might tax ammunition sales to the point that buying ammo
would be unaffordable. "You can use your gun as a club," he joked.




Others, including some gun buyers, say much of the fear is
over-the-top. Democrats are advocating sensible gun laws, not
conspiring against the Second Amendment, said Alice Mountjoy,
government-relations coordinator for the Virginia Center for Public
Safety, a gun-control advocacy group.




Some gun enthusiasts, she said, see themselves as "the vigilante
saving grace for our country when we're invaded. I don't see life that
way, but others apparently do.




Mountjoy said gun-rights activists apparently were not satisfied by
last year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in District of
Columbia v. Heller. The high court ruled that the Second Amendment
protects an individual's right to own guns for self-defense.




"You'd think that would quell that concern and make them happy," Mountjoy said. "They're pushing the envelope."




Obama has said he favors common-sense gun laws. As a U.S. senator,
he voted to leave gun makers and dealers open to lawsuits. As an
Illinois state legislator, he supported a ban on all forms of
semiautomatic assault weapons and tighter restrictions generally on
firearms.




He also has indicated support for closing the so-called gun-show
loophole, which allows sales of firearms between private individuals at
gun shows without requiring criminal-background checks.




Several customers at the Showplace gun show said they were looking
for a weapon to protect themselves or for hunting purposes, and that
they didn't buy into the hype about Obama.




Zayd Turner of Henrico sees a racial component in the mistrust of Obama.




"I believe it's a race issue everybody's dealing with," he said.
"They don't know how to handle a black man being president." Turner,
who is black, said he even has heard people suggest that Obama was a
member of the Taliban.




"I like guns," Turner said, "but people are really ready for war. I think it's great for the gun dealers."




Attendance is up from 30 percent to 50 percent at gun shows across
Virginia compared to this time last year, said Annette Elliott, a
promoter of about 70 shows each year. A newspaper ad for the March 7-8
gun show at the Showplace read: "GET YOUR GUNS WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!"




"They're coming in like locusts," Elliott said.




Joe Cacciotti of Chesterfield said people have learned they can't
trust the government and they don't feel like they are being
represented, adding that criminals get only a slap on the wrist.




The first time a law-enforcement officer goes into someone's home
and confiscates his gun, he said, that will be "the first shot being
fired for the second American Revolution to begin."




Meanwhile, the gun business is thriving. Bob Moates, who owns three
gun stores in Virginia, including one in Midlothian, says he hasn't
seen such brisk business since the mid-1960s, when there were race- and
anti-war riots across the United States.




This will last longer, he believes, because there is a fundamental fear of what will happen to gun rights.




"People are very concerned about his allegiance to the Second
Amendment," he said of Obama. The administration's stance on guns is
"very dubious."




Jerry Thompson, president of Dominion Shooting Range on Turner Road
in Chesterfield, said he is seeing ammunition shortages in almost every
caliber. That is hurting his shooting-range business, he said, but he
is seeing increased interest in firearm-safety classes for people
seeking concealed-weapon permits.




"We're scheduled 60 days out," he said. "Before, every once in a
blue moon, we would have an overflow class. Now we have three overflow
classes going."




Gun and ammo dealers were competing with warm weather at the gun
show March 8 at the Showplace, but business was brisk. Sales were going
smoothly for Golden, operations manager for Southampton County-based
Golden & Zimmerman.




He said he was having trouble keeping up with demand for AR-15 rifles and the .223-caliber bullets for those weapons.




Lonnie Maurer, owner of a Springfield, Ohio-based ammunition
dealership, said he is having trouble getting enough of all types of
military-style ammunition and bullets used for hunting. He uses eight
distributors, and some of his orders are six months behind.




"I've never seen this level of paranoia . . . out of what I would
call normal people," he said. He said his company did about $500,000 in
sales in 2008 and already has tallied about $250,000 this year.




Another dealer at the show, Berry Johnson of Form and Function
Firearms in Jetersville, said .380-caliber pistol ammunition was "near
impossible" to find. "I've got five boxes left," he said, "and from
what I understand, I'm the only one here that's got them." He sold out
later that day.




One Missouri bullet manufacturing company is doing all it can to keep up with demand.




"We're making bullets like it's going out of style," said Carroll
Pilant, spokesman for Sierra Bullets in Sierra, Mo. He said demand was
up more than 50 percent since late last year.




He said the plant is working with two full shifts and a partial
third one, and also is operating most Saturdays. He believes that
demand will stay that way until people feel comfortable that their gun
rights are here to stay.




Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense
League, said people are worried that law and order could collapse if
the economy gets so bad that riots break out, or if the nation is hit
by a massive terrorist strike. "Is that paranoid to worry about a
collapse, when the government's warning us of an economic collapse?" he
said.




Van Cleave said this year doesn't appear unusual in terms of the
number of proposed federal gun-control bills. But lawmakers "have their
hands full with the economy. Give it a little more time."




Joan Burbick, a professor at Washington State University who wrote
the book "Gun Show Nation: Gun Culture and American Democracy," says
gun ownership has taken on symbolic meaning for many Americans who
equate weapons with freedom.




A lot of people buy guns simply because they see their purchase as a
protest against the government when they don't like the way things are
going.




We do not think that government can solve the problems that we face "the gun is the solution," she said, paraphrasing the viewpoint of
some Americans. "I'm going to take my stand here on gun ownership."




Reed Williams and Louis Llovio are staff writers for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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One Missouri bullet manufacturing company is doing all it can to keep up with demand.

"We're making bullets like it's going out of style," said CarrollPilant, spokesman for Sierra Bullets in Sierra, Mo. He said demand wasup more than 50 percent since late last year.

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Lots of armed and angry people.  Maybe the .gov should start paying attention to the citizens.  With the economy, it's bound to be a bad combination.

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Did you just dupe yourself?  

You could change just the State name, and this article would fit all 57 States.

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you hear that? its the sound of me an thousands of my fellow VA citizens arming themselves.

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Tin foil on: I heard from a military guy that Homeland Security bought 3 Billion dollars in civilian ammo.

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Did'nt you guys have to do that once before??????????????

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stonewall jackson brigade! FTW!  im so proud of my fellow Virginians!

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I was actually thinking of an earyler time of crisis

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Between the USCG, Secret Service, and Customs/Border patrol, thats not out of line.........

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Tin foil on: I heard from a military guy that Homeland Security bought 3 Billion dollars in civilian ammo.

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fiddy seven?

What, you mean like Puerto rico and Mexico and guam too??

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THIS...

"We're making bullets like it's going out of style," said Carroll Pilant, spokesman for Sierra Bullets in Sierra, Mo. He said demand was up more than 50 percent since late last year.

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I admit I'm kind of at a crossroads.

Do I want to GTFO of NOVA ASAP and avoid a bad situation when it happens, or do I want to stay and have a target-rich environment when that time comes?

But yeah, stocking up on ammo is just something we do 'round here.

_MaH