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NY;Gun sales have risen sharply since attacks
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gun sales have risen sharply since attacks Increase in transactions is seen as many consumers' way of making themselves and their families feel safer. December 16, 2001 By AL BAKERThe New York Times NEW YORK -- Gun and ammunition sales across the country have risen sharply since Sept. 11 as more Americans take what many consider to be the most personal step toward feeling safer: arming themselves. According to statistics from the FBI, surveys by firearms associations and anecdotal evidence from storefront gun shops and distributors from Arizona to Florida to Manhattan, the jump in firearms sales followed quickly on the first jarring images of the terrorist attacks. The rise was anywhere from 9 percent to nearly 22 percent during September, October and November, according to FBI statistics on background checks for purchases. The total peaked in October, at 1,029,691. Those in the gun industry say a range of firearms have been purchased, from high-priced handguns small enough to fit inside a purse to shotguns and assault rifles."Sept. 11, like other catastrophes, makes people panic, makes them fearful, makes them want to protect themselves and their families against the enemy, who, in this case, is hard to identify," said James Alan Fox, a criminal-justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. To many in and out of law enforcement, such a proliferation of deadly weapons is unsettling, even as scores of new gun owners argue that they are gaining a feeling of personal security in troubled times. "We are always concerned with the overall numbers of guns that are available and out on the street making things unmanageable for law enforcement," said William Berger, the police chief of North Miami Beach, Fla., who is president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the nation's oldest and largest group of law enforcement executives, with 19,000 members worldwide. Nevertheless, guns are being bought with the feeling that they will make the buyer safer. Scott Abraham, a Long Island investment broker in his 30s, said he never dreamed of buying a gun until Sept. 11. Last month he bought a Mossberg shotgun because "I don't want to be caught shorthanded," and made a spot to hide it in his house. Thomas M. Iasso, 53, a former New York City police officer who stopped carrying a gun two years ago, bought a .40-caliber Glock after the terrorist attacks - and carries it.According to Andrew M. Molchan, the director of the 4,000-member Professional Gun Retailers Association in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., firearms retailers have seen significant jumps in sales, especially among first-time buyers and the wealthy. "Maybe they had more to protect or maybe they had more to lose, or, psychologically, they thought they had more to lose," Molchan said. In a survey done about 10 days after the September attacks, the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that 15 percent of gun retailers questioned had reported sales increases of more than 25 percent, said Douglas Painter, executive director of the 1,800-member, Connecticut-based organization. The majority of those retailers were in places close to the attacks, such as New York City and Washington, as well as in Florida, where some of the terrorists are believed to have lived for a time, he said. Now the big question is how long the increase in sales will continue. Opinion is split. Many retailers say the buying habits may be affected by global events. "Only time will tell if this current increase in sales will be long-term." Painter said. The FBI statistics show increases in the number of background checks for firearms sales and other transactions from September through November. But they had increased very slightly in August as well. Daniel A. Wells, assistant operations manager for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the FBI division that keeps data on the sales of long guns and handguns, pawn shop redemptions and permit requests, said the number of checks increased 12 percent on Sept. 12 over the same day in 2000. The number of background checks for gun purchases and other transactions increased to 864,038 for September, a 10.5 percent increase over the same month last year. In October, they were 1,029,691, a gain of nearly 22 percent over October 2000. And last month, they were 983,186, an increase of more than 9 percent over November 2000, the FBI figures showed. That followed declines in each of those months - traditional hunting season months - between 1999 and 2000. So far this month, however, the numbers are on track to be slightly lower than they were last December, though the holiday buying season is not over. The checks do not represent gun sales, but are considered the most accurate gauge of the number of gun purchases. No one can say for sure if the increase can be attributed solely to the Sept. 11 attacks, but many law enforcement officials and gun industry insiders agree it is a primary reason. Because the FBI has been keeping statistics only since November 1998, it cannot determine whether the increases are part of some cyclical pattern. Some buyers said part of their reason was a feeling that crime was beginning to inch up, and the belief that a worsening economy may increase crime further. http://www.ocregister.com/news/16nygunscci.shtml
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