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The terrorist atrocity in Paris has had an interesting side-effect here in America: Gun sales are on the rise.
Media reports across the country indicate that gun dealers and authorities who issue weapons permits have seen a significant increase in interest in firearms purchases.
“The line will go clear out the door, wrap around to the courtyard, and I would estimate the amount of phone calls quadruple,” Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Sheriff’s Office said of concealed carry permit applicants.
Kraus’s office normally processes around 50 applications for permits a day, but handled 104 requests on Monday, November 16, the first day of business after the attacks, TribLive.com reported. On Tuesday, November 17, the office processed even more: 121 permits.
Other locations in the state are seeing a similar pattern.
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“It’s 104 for Monday and Tuesday,” Butler County, Pennsylvania, Sheriff Michael T. Slupe said of concealed carry applications. Slupe’s office normally handles around 30 applications each day.
“It’s a reaction from the public and their need to feel safe,” Slupe said of the increase. “When Sandy Hook happened, I was out front (of his office), and we did 100 a day easily.”
Elsewhere, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama also reported that concealed carry permits spiked, TV station WSFA reported.
Gun Sales Boom
Business at the nation’s gun dealers is also up. Jerry McCall, the owner of Texas Guns in San Antonio, told Fox News that sales have increased by 30 percent in the past week. He also said that sales of semi-automatic weapons have increased.
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“A normal firearm is about seven to 10 rounds and what has been selling this last week is 30, 40, 50,” McCall said of the firepower that is in demand. He’s also seeing more first-time customers.
McCall noted that the number of people in his concealed carry class also has doubled.
Record Gun Sales
The spike in firearms purchases is likely to send already record sales to new highs. The number of requests to the National Instant Criminal Background System (NCIS) hit a record high of 1,795,102 in September, Fortune reported. The number rose again to 1,976,759 in October. In fact, requests for NCIS checks have been at record highs for six straight months.
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The increase in gun sales is driven by fears of terrorist attacks in the United States and concern that the Paris atrocity could lead to tougher gun laws in the United States. Such action has also taken place in Europe, where the European Union could soon impose a total ban on the sale of semiautomatic rifles to the public, UK Sporting News reported. Some of the Paris attackers were equipped with illegal semiautomatic rifles.
At least one US politician, US Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), already has cited Paris as a justification for more gun control in America, Free Beacon reported.
“And I think it ought to cause us to have another consideration of sensible gun safety laws,” Schakowsky told Tim Farley on SiriusXM’s The Morning Briefing Show on Monday.
Other gun buyers are motivated by just plain fear.
“I don’t want to be with my kids and my family hiding under a table. I want to be protecting us and get out of there and if I had to, try to stop somebody,” said Mary Hernandez, a customer at Texas Guns.
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