© Getty ImagesA man walks with a stroller as people stand in line outside the Martin B. Retting, Inc. guns store Culver City, California over the weekend.
- Around 4 p.m. ET Monday, stocks for publicly-traded gun sellers American Outdoor Brands were up 5.46%, Sturm, Ruger & Co. had increased by 3.6% and Vista Outdoor had jumped by 7.86%, all while stocks on the broad market were dismal.
- Background checks for gun purchases through the FBI system totaled 2.8 million nationally in February, a 36% jump compared to the same month in 2019 — it's the largest year-over-year percentage spike since 2016.
- One Mesa, Arizona, gun store owner said he hasn't seen sales this high since President Barack Obama was in office, and Kevin Lim, the owner of a tactical gear retailer told BuzzFeed News his sales have increased between 50% and 100% since the coronavirus outbreak started.
- According to reports, recent gun sale increases in Washington State and California included larger-than-usual numbers of Asian-American customers, some saying they were concerned about racist backlash over the pandemic, which is believed to have originated in China.
- Survival gear like military field rations, medical kits, ballistic body armor and tactical gear like flashlights, bulletproof vests and knives are also selling well.
- Lines at a Los Angeles-area gun shop appeared to rival even those at grocery stores over the weekend.
Key background: Economic and political instability tends to kick off periods of increased gun sales, Alex Horsman, Ammo.com marketing manager told USA Today. The online retailer itself has reported a 68% jump in sales.
With U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency, some buyers may be purchasing guns out of fear they will be restricted from doing so by the government in the near future. It's similar to the reasoning that leads to gun purchases in the U.S. sometimes spiking immediately after mass shootings.
It may not all be due to coronavirus. Gun sales tend to see surges in presidential election years, as buyers watch the inevitable debate of Second Amendment rights. Last week, Democratic primary candidate Joe Biden had a standoff with a worker automotive plant in Detroit, Michigan, over his stance on gun control.
On Saturday, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. weighed in, saying even his Democrat friends had reached out to him asking for advice on the best gun to buy.
Key quote: "People have a little lack of confidence that if something big and bad happens, that 911 might not work. We saw it with [Hurricane] Katrina. People haven't forgotten that a disaster happened, and the government didn't come," said Larry Hyatt, a gun store owner in North Carolina, who reports a jump in sales between 30% and 40% since late February. He attributes most of it the coronavirus fears — but told The New York Times that presidential elections and stock market fluctuations also play a role in firearm demand.
Tangent: As U.S. schools close down and firearm sales increase, gun control advocates warn against leaving children unsupervised in homes with unsecured guns.
"We've seen increases in firearm purchases in response to uncertain or worrisome current events in the past. Unfortunately, we know that not only do more guns not make you safer, but that the opposite is true," Brady Campaign President Kris Brown told The Hill. "Unsafe storage practices correlate to unintentional shootings in the home."
What to watch for: The coronavirus pandemic may play a major role in the increase in demand for firearms and body armor, but there's also a chance it could help lead to an industry-wide shortage.
"A lot of body armor and body armor materials are manufactured in China, and we are already seeing shortages [and] extended lead times for many of the products we sell," Lim told Buzzfeed News.
Carlie Porterfield - I am a Texas native covering breaking news out of New York City. Previously, I was a Forbes intern in London. I am an alum of City, University of London and Texas State University.
Comment: It's hardly surprising, given the level of panic being spread throughout the mainstream press, that people are feeling insecure and buying guns. It's funny that the liberal MSM, who are helping to drive the panic, would find this so distasteful.
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