The year 2020 saw record gun sales thanks to the coronavirus and fears of Democrat gun-control policies. In the run up to the general election, a surge began as polls suggested Democratic nominee Joe Biden would easily win the election over President Donald Trump.
It is still unclear who actually won the election. Media outlets have called it for Biden, but Trump has pursued numerous legal actions to contest the results in several states. Still, gun purchases continue to soar, with gun-shop owners telling media outlets they can’t keep their shelves stocked.
Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms reported that part of the surge is due to Biden “already making plans to use executive and administrative actions to target legal gun owners,” since it looks like even if he does end up president, he likely won’t have control of the U.S. Senate to enact his agenda. Because of Democrat gun-control threats, gun owners have seen their sales surge in recent weeks, and that is continuing.
Chris Harding, owner of H&H Tactical in Exeter, Pennsylvania, told Fox 56 that his store has “been crazy and every week; it’s getting worse.” He told the outlet business was steady on Sunday afternoon and that 60% of his customer base is now first-time gun buyers.
“They’re buying anything they can get their hands on. High capacity magazines, guns, ammo anything that they’re calling assault weapons A year ago, before all this started, we would roughly sell 2,000 rounds a month. Now we’re selling between 50 to 70 thousand rounds a week,” Harding told the outlet.
Customers told Fox 56 they worried about a Democrat White House limiting Second Amendment rights.
“Everybody should have a right to defend themselves, their home and their family. For somebody to just come in and take that away it’s just not right,” said one customer.
Harding dismissed concerns that a Democrat administration could take guns away, however.
“I don’t wanna become a felon but we do sell other things. We sell a lot of body armor and things law enforcement agencies use throughout the area. And if history prevails, they’re not gonna be taken away. The physical possibility there’s millions of these things across the country. There would be a complete revolution uprising even if they tried,” he said.
Nebraska’s panhandle is seeing a similar surge, the Star-Herald reported.
“Nationwide, sales have skyrocketed, driven by new buyers citing coronavirus pandemic uncertainty, social unrest over police killings of Black people concerns about violence in a contested election. Major gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. CEO Mark Peter Smith credited 40% of sales to people buying firearms for the first time, according the September call to investors,” the outlet reported.
Several store owners told the outlet that they keep running out of popular ammo and that their gun sales have exceeded 2019. Others, such as John Erickson of Flatwater Arms, said the year has “been tremendous, it’s hard to keep things resupplied.”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, gun sales in 2020 set a new record, led by health care workers purchasing weapons during the pandemic.