Why gun sales are spiking here and around the US
Experts attribute the boost to fears of increased regulation after Biden win, unrest
“People who generally favor gun rights are also people who favor gun rights in large measure because they’re worried about government tyranny.”
Dan Hartman is seeing lots of new faces in his Carroll County gun store this year.
He attributes the increase to the uncertainty people feel about COVID-19, frequent protests in major cities and the prospect of President-elect Joe Biden, a gun control advocate, in the White House.
“I don’t know if that’s something you necessarily have to worry about in your home, but people are scared,” said Hartman, who owns Maryland Elite Firearms in Finksburg.
Maryland has seen a more than 76% spike in FBI firearm background checks initiated in the first 11 months of 2020 versus all of 2019. This number doesn’t represent the number of gun sales, but is indicative of firearm demand. Nationally, background checks are up about 49% during the same time frame.
What Hartman is seeing is part of a broader trend. Across the country, gun sales are at all-time highs, according to estimates from research consulting group Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting. But
Maryland’s growth has been particularly pronounced, as it has been higher than all but six states: Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Utah and Rhode Island, in that order, according to a Baltimore Sun data analysis.
The run on guns in Maryland and nationwide may have implications ranging from supply shortages to increased violence and deaths by suicide, experts say.
A University of California, Davis Violence Prevention Program study of the first three months of the pandemic in the United States found that the increase in gun purchases was tied to a statistically significant increase in firearm violence.
Gun sales traditionally spike due to two factors, said Timothy Lytton, a professor at Georgia State University, whose research focuses on gun violence. The first is when a Democrat might win the White House, he said, as happened during the 2016 presidential campaign when Hillary Clinton was the front-runner.
Mass shootings also cause a spike in gun sales, Lytton said, as people think stricter regulations may follow.
Hartman said he has seen everyone from military veterans who haven’t fired a weapon in 40 years to first-timers who never thought they’d buy a gun. Many don’t know about Maryland’s handgun restrictions.
While the majority of nationwide protests related to police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement have been peaceful, Hartman said his customers are worried about the instances of looting and
— Timothy Lytton, Georgia State University gun violence researcher
The proposal is expected to include about $300 per week in bonus federal unemployment payments, providing relief just as emergency aid payments at regular benefit levels are set to expire at year’s end. It would extend a freeze on evictions for people who cannot pay their rent and reauthorize the Paycheck Protection Program to give a second round of subsidies to businesses struggling through the pandemic.
Biden on Friday predicted a “bleak future” if Congress doesn’t take speedy action on an aid bill amid a spike in the virus that’s hampering the country’s economic recovery.
There have been more than 14.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 282,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Still, potential sticking points remain in the proposal.
Sanders and Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez, D-N.Y., said last week they wouldn’t support the $908 billion proposal if it did not include checks for families, and were joined by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are also against shielding businesses from lawsuits claiming negligence for COVID-19 outbreaks, a provision pushed by Republicans.
While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was “immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later.
On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments
would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20. At that time, Biden will face a new Congress as vaccines are being distributed, with a narrowed Democratic majority in the House and a closely divided Senate potentially split 50-50 if Democrats are able to prevail in two runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Sanders was not involved in the negotiations and “his characterization is just not accurate” about the potential liability protections for businesses. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.
Warner also said the number of senators backing the proposal “goes up every day.”
“It would be stupidity on steroids if Congress doesn’t act,” Warner added, predicting a few more “days of drama” before the deal gained enough support to pass both chambers.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the bipartisan group was focused on extending the most urgent aid for the next four months.
“Every indication says more money is needed; we see that,” he said. “This gets us through basically the lifelines that people need and the small businesses that can survive and not go under.”
Manchin said Biden’s team, when in power, “can put together a different proposal that takes us further down the road for more recovery.”
Durbin spoke on ABC’s “This Week,” Cassidy appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” Warner was on CNN’s “State of the Union” and Manchin was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”