Tulse, United States - David Stone snagged a cardboard box
of .223-caliber ammunition from the shelf and slid it across the
glass countertop, offering his go-to sales pitch: "Welcome to the
biggest selection of ammunition in all of Oklahoma."
"I'm not sure I can keep on saying that," Stone said, explaining that
the supply of goods at Dong's Guns, Ammo and Reloading has been
seriously depleted over the last few days.
"When I say sales have been booming," he said, "it's an
understatement."
Gun sales are surging in many US states, especially in those hit
hardest by the coronavirus - California, New York and Washington. But
there's also been an uptick in less-affected areas, with some
first-time gun buyers fearing an unraveling of the social order and
some gun owners worried that the government might use its emergency
powers to restrict gun purchases.
Stone's packed store shares a small strip of road with a church, a
cemetery and another gun shop, and in recent days he has sold several
firearms to truckers traveling along Interstate 44 here in Oklahoma.
One trucker, who was headed to Arizona, bought 2,500 dollars worth of
firearms and ammunition, and another trucker, who was headed to
Illinois, dropped 200 dollars on ammunition alone.
"You got to be protected for all sorts of stuff," Stone said. "Seems
like the world has gone mad."
In California, would-be customers formed a long line outside the
Martin B. Retting gun shop in Culver City over the weekend.
"Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest
time that we don't need guns," said John Gore, 39, part of the crush
of customers in recent days. "But right now, a lot of people are
truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves."
Ammo.com, an online retailer of ammunition, has also seen a recent
increase in sales. According to the company, from Feb. 23 to March 4,
transactions increased 68% compared with the 11 days before Feb. 23,
a day when Italy reported a major outbreak of the coronavirus that
causes COVID-19.
Some gun control groups have raised concerns about children out of
school for the next several weeks, which could result in more
children and teens being killed in homes with unsecured guns.
"The unintended consequence of these panic-induced purchases in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic could be a tragic increase of
preventable gun deaths for the loved ones these individuals are
trying to protect," Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign to
Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement Monday.
The National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment advocates
have been applauding the uptick in firearms sales. "You don't need
it, till you need it," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted recently.
According to various reports, the surge in gun sales started several
weeks ago in states such as Washington and California, and included
large numbers of Asian Americans, some fearful of anti-Asian backlash
over the coronavirus.
At Laguna Guns & Accessories in Elk Grove, Calif., south of
Sacramento, the shop's owner said he has seen a recent run on his
inventory, with many Asian customers stopping into the store, but
others too. Over the last week in Elk Grove, an elderly woman died of
COVID-19 in a senior care facility, and the area's school district -
one of the largest in California - was one of the state's earliest to
close.
"It's panic," said George, the shop owner, who would consent to the
use of only his first name.
For weeks, customers have been crowding into Arcadia Firearm and
Safety, a gun store in the heart of Southern California's Chinese
American community. The store's owner, David Liu, said it was the
busiest he'd ever seen, and not just because of his Asian American
clientele.
"It's everybody," said Liu, adding that his major suppliers are out
of stock, making it impossible to reorder. "It's not only California,
it's the whole nation that's cleaned out. ... It's like toilet
paper."
Three minutes before the store's closing Sunday, first-time gun
purchaser Anna Carreras was one of the remaining customers, waiting
to see what inventory was left.
"It's not like an active panic, more a preoccupation with making sure
everyone is adequately prepared, myself and family and friends," she
said. "Better to be prepared and not need it than need it and not
have it."
In Tulsa on a recent afternoon, the click of magazines jamming inside
handguns reverberated off the cinder-block walls of Dong's Guns.
Dozens of people - many of whom seemed utterly unfazed by warnings to
stay home and practice social distancing - filtered in and out of the
shop.
When approached by a reporter, one man refused to answer questions if
he couldn't first get a handshake. Nearby, another man walked the
aisles in search of a scope for his bolt-action rifle.
Brandon Jay, 37, said his interest in the gun shop had nothing to do
with the coronavirus. He was here to protect himself from a neighbor
who has made threats.
"It's the flu 2.0," he said, shaking his head. "People all scared of
this - it's the flu. It's some made-up stuff from the coasts."
With 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no deaths, Oklahoma -
unlike California or Washington - hasn't experienced the hour-by-hour
updates of the pandemic's spread. Though Jay is skeptical of the
risks, he said he was encouraged to see more people buying guns.
"If this hysteria is helping the cause, then that's great," he said.
"Strap up."