Anxiety over terrorism spikes interest in arms

Josey1

Anxiety over terrorism spikes interest in arms Mike Glabowicz examines a semiautomatic rifle. (Tribune photo by Jim Robinson) By Amanda Vogt and Sean D. HamillTribune staff reportersPublished September 29, 2001At GAT Guns Inc. & Indoor Range in East Dundee, there was a run on semiautomatic weapons.Schrank's Smoke 'n Gun in Waukegan has been swarmed by people filling out applications for a firearm owner's identification card, which the state requires before a gun can be bought."I had people trying to buy a shopping cart full of ammo," said Alex Hernandez, manager of the Sports Authority store in southwest suburban Burbank.For many, it seems, the way to make the world feel safe again after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 is to buy a gun. Across the Chicago area and in urban centers around the country, interest in firearms has spiked."The attacks have played on our basic insecurities," said Dave Schrank of Schrank's Smoke 'n Gun. "These are average people, many who are entering a gun shop for the first time, who are doing this as an insurance policy."Schrank said that on a typical Saturday he processes five to eight firearm owner's ID card applications. He said that on Sept. 15, the first Saturday after the attacks, he filed 38.Schrank said he believes that unless more terrorist attacks occur, many of those people won't return to buy a firearm. But meanwhile, he said, people seem to want a sense of personal security.Browsing for guns at the Waukesha County Gun Show in Waukesha, Wis., on Friday night, Rafael Tirado, 19, of Milwaukee said he was "worried about riots breaking out." He said he bought two semiautomatic assault rifles Thursday from a Milwaukee dealer "because I figured, with what's going on, I've got to be ready."Tirado owns seven other guns and said he is prepared to use them. The guns, he said, "makes me feel a lot safer when I'm at home with my family."At the Outdoorsman Sport Shop in Winthrop Harbor, firearm sales rose 10 to 15 percent in the days following the attacks, and the number of people filling out applications for firearm owner's IDs increased tenfold, owner Paul Cox said."There's a new fear of the unknown in America," he said. "We don't know who or where these terrorists are or if the government can protect us."University of Chicago sociologist Robert Sampson said it's somewhat irrational for a person who wouldn't otherwise visit a gun shop to do so in response to the terrorist attacks."You can't carry a gun on an airplane," he said. "There's an underlying fear at work here that's causing people to retreat to their homes and their communities. It's not a rational response, this assumption that terrorist groups are going to seek you out where you live."Every gun purchase triggers a background check by the Illinois State Police, as required under federal law. During the first 21 days of September, state police conducted an average of 50 more background checks per day than during the same period last year, according to Capt. Dave Sanders. The agency doesn't track applications by date, he said, so it could not provide breakdowns for before and after the attack.In California, one of the few states with nearly instant accounting of background checks, there was a 42 percent increase in gun sales in the two weeks after the attacks, compared with the same time period last year. In those two weeks, 18,500 people bought guns in California, compared with 13,000 during the same period last year."We're not saying right now exactly what the reason is," said Mike Van Winkle, spokesman for the state agency that monitors gun sales in California, "but we've seen increases like this before after a national crisis."The FBI, which conducts criminal background checks of gun buyers under the federal Brady Law, reported a 15 percent increase in such checks on Sept. 11, 12 and 13, compared with the same days last year.Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the National Rifle Association, said his group has seen a surge in membership since the attacks.Mike Glabowicz, a Libertyville businessman, was among those who visited Schrank's gun shop in recent days."I don't know that guns are necessarily a valuable tool against terrorism," he said. "But there's a perception that if you're armed, it creates an uncertainty in the mind of the criminal that results in a shift in the balance of power in your favor."Copyright c 2001, Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0109290147sep29.story

4000fps

GAT guns in Dundee is where I go all the time. Was there last weekend and it was 3 deep at the 50 foot gun counter. People buying like crazy.Great fun.