Fewer excited gun-buyers in Colo. and Conn.
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StoryJan 7, 3:53 AM (ET)
By EILEEN SULLIVAN
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WASHINGTON (AP) - In Connecticut and Colorado, scenes of the most
deadly U.S. mass shootings in 2012, people were less enthusiastic about buying
new guns at the end of the year than in most other states, according to an
Associated Press analysis of new FBI data. The biggest surges in background
checks for people who want to carry or buy guns occurred in states in the South
and West.
The latest government figures reflect huge increases across the
U.S. in the number of background checks for gun sales and permits to carry guns
at the end of the year. After President Barack Obama's re-election, the
horrific school shooting in Connecticut and Obama's promise to support new laws
aimed at curbing gun violence, the number of background checks spiked. In
Georgia, the FBI processed 37,586 requests during October and 78,998 requests
in December; Alabama went from 32,850 to 80,576 during the same period.
Nationally, there were nearly twice as many more background checks
for firearms between November and December than during the same time period one
year ago.
"It's a fear there will be a crackdown," said Thomas
Wright, who runs Hoover Tactical Firearms near Birmingham, Ala. Wright said he
took on more employees to handle the sales crush after 20 children were killed
in Newtown, Conn. "We used to have what was called our wall of guns. It's
pretty much empty now." Every high-capacity magazine in Wright's store was
sold out.
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The government's figures suggested far less interest in purchasing
guns late in the year in Connecticut and Colorado, where background checks also
increased but not nearly as much as most other states. Twelve people died in
July in a shooting at a Colorado movie theater. The numbers of checks in
Colorado rose from 35,009 in October to 53,453 in December; checks in
Connecticut went from 18,761 to 29,246 during the same period. Only New Jersey
and Maryland showed smaller increases than Colorado in December from one month
earlier.
In Connecticut, people were having second thoughts about whether
it's a good idea to have a gun in the home after the Newtown shooting, the
governor's criminal justice advisor, Michael Lawlor said. The gunman,
20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother inside their home using
weapons she had legally purchased before he drove to the school. Lanza shot his
way into the building and carried out the massacre before committing suicide as
police arrived.
Lawlor also said that, in Connecticut, it can take months to
obtain a permit to buy a handgun.
A federal background check doesn't always indicate a new gun is
purchased, but the firearms industry uses these numbers as an indicator of how
well the gun business is doing.
Background checks typically spike during the holiday shopping
season, and some of the increases in the most recent FBI numbers can be
attributed to that. But the number of background checks also tends to increase
after mass shootings, when gun enthusiasts fear restrictive measures are
imminent.
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After the Colorado shootings, the FBI conducted 1.5 million
background checks across the country during August, compared to 1.2 million
checks in June. Yet the Connecticut shootings energized gun buyers more:
Background checks surged in December to nearly 2.8 million, compared to 1.6
million in October.
Even before the Colorado and Connecticut shootings, the gun
industry was strong. Sales were on the rise - so much that some manufacturers
couldn't make guns fast enough. Major gun company stocks were up, and the
number of federally licensed retail gun dealers was increasing for the first
time in 20 years. Many attributed the surge to Obama, whom the gun lobby
predicted would be the most anti-gun president in American history.
After the Colorado shooting, during the final months of the
presidential campaign, Obama and Congress expressed no interest in new gun
laws. But just days after the Connecticut shootings, Obama said new gun laws
would be a top priority.
"Gun owners are scared," said Dudley Brown, executive
director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a Colorado group that promotes gun
rights.
People in the business are calling this rush to buy guns after the
Newton shooting a "banic," meaning people are panicked that Obama
would ban guns, said Bill Bernstein, owner of the East Side Gun Shop in
Nashville, Tenn.
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Tennessee saw among the highest increase in gun checks at the end
of last year, with 91,922 background checks in December, up from 59,840 in
November. Bernstein said sales after the Connecticut shooting "went on
steroids."
Gregory Johnson, of Molalla, Ore., said he and his wife aren't
afraid of Obama taking away their guns. He said they are signed up to take a
required class to get a concealed license permit because they want to make sure
they can protect themselves in a situation like the Dec. 11 shooting spree at
an Oregon mall where a gunman killed two people before killing himself. Johnson
was shopping in a Milwaukie, Ore., gun store Friday, looking for a small gun
his wife could carry in her new job that will have her driving at times alone
at night.
"I'm not expecting her to carry, but at least she has the
option if she needs it, or at least have something available to her in her
vehicle," Johnson said. "That's my priority, my wife's
security."
Outside New Orleans, the manager of Gretna Gun Works, Jason
Gregory, said surging sales were no cause for celebration. In Louisiana,
background checks increased from 38,584 in November to 59,697 in December.
Gregory said sales more than doubled in his store, spurred by politicians
calling for tougher gun laws.
"They're causing such fear among the people," he said.
"It's not the way the market should be working."
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Associated Press writers Thomas Peipert in Denver, John
Christoffersen in Newtown, Conn., Steve DuBois in Milwaukie, Ore., Mike
Kunzelman in New Orleans, Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala.; Joseph Pisani in New
York and Travis Loller in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.
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