HOUSTON — A week after the election of the nation's first black president, gun buyers across the country are flocking to gun stores to stock up on assault rifles, handguns and ammunition.
Some say they are worried that the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will attempt to re- impose the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Others fear the loss of their right to own handguns. A few say they are preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war.
But whatever the reason, gun dealers in red and blue states alike say they've never seen anything like the run on weaponry they've been experiencing since election day, surpassing the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"People are terrified of losing their right to protect themselves," said DeWayne Irwin, owner of Cheaper Than Dirt, a large gun store in Fort Worth. "The volume is 10 times what we ever expected. It started with assault rifles, but at this point, people are buying ammunition, high capacity magazines, Glocks -- it's all flying off the shelf.
"With the economy the way it is, people are worried about instability. They are scared of civil unrest."
There are no nationwide figures on gun sales available yet to document a post-election trend, and the number of pre-purchase background checks conducted by the FBI -- a major barometer of national gun sales -- actually rose more slowly through Oct. 31 of this year than during comparable periods in 2007 and 2006.
But anecdotal reports from around the nation suggest the sudden surge of November gun-buying is far surpassing the normal hunting-season spike that often occurs at this time of year.
At the Memorial Shooting Center in Houston, a popular gun store and firing range that shares a building with a church, managers said they sold out their stock of assault weapons a day after the election and are now adding orders, at more than $1,000 each, to a monthlong waiting list.
In Colorado, state authorities said they set a record for background checks on gun purchasers on the Saturday before the election -- and the requests have been growing ever since.
Not every gun enthusiast is so worried. Mark Greene, a hunter and member of Gun Owners for Obama, led a grass-roots campaign for the Democratic nominee in Tarrant County, Texas. Greene said he regarded fears of a looming ban on assault weapons as unfounded.
