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Terrorism triggers rise in gun sales
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Terrorism triggers rise in gun sales
2002-05-26
By Ken Raymond
The Oklahoman
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Oklahomans have been rushing to buy firearms.
Applications for concealed firearms permits in Oklahoma rose 145 percent in the two months after last year's terrorist attacks and continue to remain at a higher level than before Sept. 11, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation records show.
Moreover, interest in obtaining permits soared 136 percent in the same period, OSBI spokeswoman Kym Koch said.
The permit increases mirrored a jump in gun sales that began the day of the attacks. One local retailer saw sales climb 50 percent in September and 100 percent in October.
"That has continued into this year," said Miles Hall, president of H&H Indoor Gun Range. "We're showing a 20 percent increase so far."
In July and August, Koch said, 1,708 people contacted the OSBI to request application packets for conceal-carry permits. Of those, only 482 completed the application process.
In October and November, 4,029 people requested packets, with 1,181 approved for permits.
"We're starting to taper off, but it's still high," Koch said. "It's a fairly significant increase."
Koch said about 32,000 to 33,000 Oklahomans have received conceal-carry permits since the state began issuing them in 1996. To obtain one, an applicant must provide photographs and fingerprints, complete a training course and consent to background checks.
"It's time-consuming more than hard to get one," Koch said. "It's fairly difficult just because of the time involved."
Despite the time lag, the aftermath of the terror attacks left Oklahomans scrambling for protection.
"What we see today is a much more focused gun-buyer," Hall said. "They know that terrorism is a fact of our era now."
And what buyers want, Hall said, are handguns small enough to be carried easily and inconspicuously -- weapons that combine a low- profile with stopping power.
"They are definitely buying smaller guns, and more are getting conceal-carry permits," he said. "The interesting thing is, we aren't really seeing a lot more first-time buyers. What we're really seeing is people who already have guns buying smaller ones ... and a lot of multiple purchases."
Outdoor America, a large gun distributor and retailer in Oklahoma City, sells handguns in every size -- including derringers and pistols so small they can be holstered in special belt buckles.
Fred Baker, president of Outdoor America, said his sales did not jump significantly after the attacks, citing consistently strong sales and an emphasis on sporting guns.
"I haven't seen people buying a lot of what I call 'paranoid guns,'" weapons with high- capacity magazines, Baker said.
Federal laws restricting information on gun ownership and the vagaries of the National Instant Check System, which is used to approve or reject potential gun-buyers, make it difficult to estimate how many Oklahomans own firearms.
"I honestly don't know how many own guns in Oklahoma," said Tim Kelly, acting supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Oklahoma City. "I don't even know if it's ever been broken down like that."
The check system exempts purchasers who already hold conceal-carry permits from the approval process, and those who buy more than one weapon at a time are only checked once. Moreover, the records are deleted after one or two months, leaving official records of gun ownership in the hands of vendors.
Gun-sellers must maintain meticulous records, Hall said, including the buyer's name and the model number, serial number, type and caliber of all guns sold. These records allow law enforcement to "back-trace" guns from manufacturers to distributors to vendors and eventually to purchasers.
Most vendors maintain records even after they close up shop, but Hall said he knows of some who intentionally destroy their records upon retirement.
While it may not be possible to pinpoint the number of guns in Oklahoma, the ATF estimates that there are about 230 million firearms in the United States and that half the homes in the country contain at least one firearm.
For each gun, it seems, there is a law governing gun ownership -- a situation that is confusing even for those charged with enforcing the laws.
"The problem with gun laws is there are federal laws, state laws and municipal codes, and they're all different," Kelly said. "It can vary so much from state to state and city to city that it'd take you forever to learn them all, if that's even possible."
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=866222
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
2002-05-26
By Ken Raymond
The Oklahoman
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Oklahomans have been rushing to buy firearms.
Applications for concealed firearms permits in Oklahoma rose 145 percent in the two months after last year's terrorist attacks and continue to remain at a higher level than before Sept. 11, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation records show.
Moreover, interest in obtaining permits soared 136 percent in the same period, OSBI spokeswoman Kym Koch said.
The permit increases mirrored a jump in gun sales that began the day of the attacks. One local retailer saw sales climb 50 percent in September and 100 percent in October.
"That has continued into this year," said Miles Hall, president of H&H Indoor Gun Range. "We're showing a 20 percent increase so far."
In July and August, Koch said, 1,708 people contacted the OSBI to request application packets for conceal-carry permits. Of those, only 482 completed the application process.
In October and November, 4,029 people requested packets, with 1,181 approved for permits.
"We're starting to taper off, but it's still high," Koch said. "It's a fairly significant increase."
Koch said about 32,000 to 33,000 Oklahomans have received conceal-carry permits since the state began issuing them in 1996. To obtain one, an applicant must provide photographs and fingerprints, complete a training course and consent to background checks.
"It's time-consuming more than hard to get one," Koch said. "It's fairly difficult just because of the time involved."
Despite the time lag, the aftermath of the terror attacks left Oklahomans scrambling for protection.
"What we see today is a much more focused gun-buyer," Hall said. "They know that terrorism is a fact of our era now."
And what buyers want, Hall said, are handguns small enough to be carried easily and inconspicuously -- weapons that combine a low- profile with stopping power.
"They are definitely buying smaller guns, and more are getting conceal-carry permits," he said. "The interesting thing is, we aren't really seeing a lot more first-time buyers. What we're really seeing is people who already have guns buying smaller ones ... and a lot of multiple purchases."
Outdoor America, a large gun distributor and retailer in Oklahoma City, sells handguns in every size -- including derringers and pistols so small they can be holstered in special belt buckles.
Fred Baker, president of Outdoor America, said his sales did not jump significantly after the attacks, citing consistently strong sales and an emphasis on sporting guns.
"I haven't seen people buying a lot of what I call 'paranoid guns,'" weapons with high- capacity magazines, Baker said.
Federal laws restricting information on gun ownership and the vagaries of the National Instant Check System, which is used to approve or reject potential gun-buyers, make it difficult to estimate how many Oklahomans own firearms.
"I honestly don't know how many own guns in Oklahoma," said Tim Kelly, acting supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Oklahoma City. "I don't even know if it's ever been broken down like that."
The check system exempts purchasers who already hold conceal-carry permits from the approval process, and those who buy more than one weapon at a time are only checked once. Moreover, the records are deleted after one or two months, leaving official records of gun ownership in the hands of vendors.
Gun-sellers must maintain meticulous records, Hall said, including the buyer's name and the model number, serial number, type and caliber of all guns sold. These records allow law enforcement to "back-trace" guns from manufacturers to distributors to vendors and eventually to purchasers.
Most vendors maintain records even after they close up shop, but Hall said he knows of some who intentionally destroy their records upon retirement.
While it may not be possible to pinpoint the number of guns in Oklahoma, the ATF estimates that there are about 230 million firearms in the United States and that half the homes in the country contain at least one firearm.
For each gun, it seems, there is a law governing gun ownership -- a situation that is confusing even for those charged with enforcing the laws.
"The problem with gun laws is there are federal laws, state laws and municipal codes, and they're all different," Kelly said. "It can vary so much from state to state and city to city that it'd take you forever to learn them all, if that's even possible."
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=866222
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Maybe someday he'll eat those words.