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High Gun Demand Clearing Out Shelves

by KREX News Room
by Amanda Brandeis

Story Created: Dec 18, 2012 at 8:32 PM MDT

Story Updated: Dec 18, 2012 at 9:10 PM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. Gun stores throughout Colorado and Mesa County are experiencing surges in sales following the Newtown tragedy. They are especially seeing the spike with assault weapons.

While these massacres tend to spark gun control debates, this incident is prompting Sen. Dianne Feinstein to introduce a bill to ban assault weapons.

On a typical day, a background check for purchasing a gun may be an hour to an hour and a half. With the spike in sales, the wait is about 20 to 30 hours.

Top Shot owner Daniel Lente says he's seen a change in mindset among customers in the past few days

"Everybody's been just flooding in left and right for any firearms they can get their hands on right now."

Top Shot customer Justin Hemmer, said, "If the government wants to try and take them away from me, then I feel as though I should have one."

"Before everybody was getting them for going out to the range, doing target practice, doing different competition shootings. Before they were buying them because they wanted them, now they're buying them just because they feel they need them," said Lente.

Gun sale spikes after a tragedy is not a new phenomenon. However, Lente said, "But nothing compared to right now. In the state, I think the last time I checked the CBI background, it was showing there were over 2,500 buying at any time during the day."

Mesa County Sheriff, Stan Hilkey, said, "It seems that the intensity of the conversation has grown, but I think that intensity is felt after any one of these tragedies."

Customers are clearing the shelves with purchases of particular guns. "Semi-auto rifles, that's what's running out like crazy right now. Shotguns, semi-auto shotguns," said Lente.

Many gun owners say banning these weapons is not the answer.

Andrew Steice, another Top Shot customer, said, "There's already hundreds of millions of guns in America as it stands, and passing more laws against that isn't going to solve any problems when it's not a problem with guns, it's a problem with values."

"I've never been afraid of an armed population. For me the concern is the person who has some sort of mental illness or undiagnosed mental illness that is able to pull off like what happened in Connecticut," Sheriff Hilkey said.

While it is our right to bear arms, these tragedies may change how much freedom we're entitled to down the line.

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Concerned citizen said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 9:47 PM

It's only starts here, if they are successful in this endeavor the second amendment will be gone. Once that's gone the first amendment will be next. It will be such as if you don't agree with their agenda you will be silenced. This administration is dangerous with their policies. People better wake up and realize what is really going on, before it's to late.

Decide said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 7:43 PM

Decide which of your other freedoms you're willing to give up. If they succeed in taking this one the others are sure to follow. You can't dimish another's liberty without endangering your own.

Concerned citizen said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 6:45 PM

Anonymous, did I say something that's to close to home in the liberal brain? This administration had been after guns from the beginning. Or have we all for got the famous Obama line about clinging to "guns and bibles". This is the beginning of his quote "fundamental change". Boy and let me tell you how oh so assured Iam that Biden is going to do a great job looking into, the gun violence problem in the country.

worried said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 1:43 PM

In the 1980's Ronald Reagan killed the funding for State Mental Hospitals closing hundreds of them and letting the loons out on the street! That was the beginning of the homeless problem we see today. We have no where to put these folks now like we did for decades in the past! We also have know way to track who is dangerously ill and close to the edge. Real scarey if you ask me!

Seriously said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 9:59 AM

Rather than working on banning guns, there should be moves towards protecting the general public from the mentally ill. I am not talking about your everyday person who works within the system, takes their medications and is a productive person. Rather those who repeatedly are violent, refuse medications and those who are untreatable. We need safe institutions. Most of the mentally ill who NEED institutionalization thrive in a controlled environment.

Anonymous said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 9:58 AM

OK concerned citizen, great advice, maybe spend your money on an education if you know what that is

Randall said on Wednesday, Dec 19 at 9:53 AM

How tasteless to run that story on your channel, the store owner so happy to be profiting off of the wake of this incident. Then again, this is Mesa County, you only have yourself to fear, idiots.

Disgusted said on Tuesday, Dec 18 at 11:45 PM

THE VERMIN! Frankenfeinstien needs to do everyones sore eyes a favor and retire, the hideous hag!

Pizzacheese said on Tuesday, Dec 18 at 11:43 PM

Maybe, but there's the touch of a raving lunatic when people rush out to buy the very weapons recently used to commit the mass murder of children. It is messed up. I wish people would look in the mirror more to see what they're becoming.

Concerned citizen said on Tuesday, Dec 18 at 9:49 PM

Buy your guns now, it's not going be long before the liberals take them away. Don't kid yourself it's going to happen.

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