First-time gun buyers flock to shops during virus fears
Firearm sellers across the country see spike in sales
Robbie Motes has never seen anything like the spike in firsttime buyers that his gun shop has seen in recent weeks.
“It’s been almost two straight weeks of a surge of a large amount of new gun owners,” said Motes, an owner of The Armories stores in Kissimmee, Winter Garden and Oviedo. “People are taking their safety seriously.”
Concern over civil unrest because of what coronavirus is doing to the economy has led more people to buy guns, Motes said, and state data back him up.
Between March 12 and March 22, there were more than 87,600 criminal background checks for gun sales and transfers, nearly triple the amount of more than 30,400 during the same period last year, according to data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Background checks were particularly large at the end of last week, with 13,192 taking place on Friday and 11,977 on Saturday. The background checks are required for federal firearm licensees to sell or transfer firearms to non-licensed people by the Brady Act, according to FDLE.
Gun sellers across the country are reportedly seeing increased sales, prompted by people beefing up their home defenses over concerns coronavirus could cause problems with society, according to the Washington Post.
The day after Orange County announced a stay-at-home order on Tuesday, closing non-essential businesses such as movie theaters and shopping malls, gun shops across the county continued to see customers buying guns and ammunition on Wednesday.
An Orange County spokesperson confirmed gun stores are allowed to stay open, with a county frequently asked questions site stating the stay-at-home order does “not regulate the sale or purchase of firearms or ammunition.”