Fears linked to November's election, street crime, civil unrest, doomsday prophecies and even a zombie apocalypse have metro Detroiters buying firearms at a brisk pace. But the boom times in gun sales are not as lucrative for local gun shops as they could be.
That's because gun retailers can't get more weapons from manufacturers, which are flooded with orders for the most popular pistols, rifles and shotguns, according to Crains Detroit Business.Royal Oak-based Target Sports normally sells about 10 guns a day, but that has increased to 30 a day this year, owner Ray Jihad said.
He'd be selling even more, if he could get them.
"I don't have any Rugers. There are a few models we sell a lot of, but I can't even get them," he said. Southport, Conn.-based Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc., which makes rifles and handguns, has been so swamped with orders that it has stopped taking new requests until the end of May.
In January, Jihad ordered $350,000 worth of firearms from Exeter, N.H.-based SIG Sauer Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of a Swiss-German arms manufacturer that supplies much of American law enforcement. He's been able to get only $150,000 worth of firearms delivered so far from his order but has sold $75,000 of it.
Worries about stricter gun laws after the upcoming presidential election are the driving force behind the firearms sales surge, said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel at the nonprofit Newtown, Conn-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry's trade association.
"There is significant concern among the consumers that in a second term by the administration they will pivot on the gun issue and pursue policies that will restrict their Second Amendment rights," Keane said.
Read More > http://www.emissourian.com/more_news/business_news/article_b891b686-95eb-11e1-8f32-0019bb2963f4.html
That's because gun retailers can't get more weapons from manufacturers, which are flooded with orders for the most popular pistols, rifles and shotguns, according to Crains Detroit Business.Royal Oak-based Target Sports normally sells about 10 guns a day, but that has increased to 30 a day this year, owner Ray Jihad said.
He'd be selling even more, if he could get them.
"I don't have any Rugers. There are a few models we sell a lot of, but I can't even get them," he said. Southport, Conn.-based Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc., which makes rifles and handguns, has been so swamped with orders that it has stopped taking new requests until the end of May.
In January, Jihad ordered $350,000 worth of firearms from Exeter, N.H.-based SIG Sauer Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of a Swiss-German arms manufacturer that supplies much of American law enforcement. He's been able to get only $150,000 worth of firearms delivered so far from his order but has sold $75,000 of it.
Worries about stricter gun laws after the upcoming presidential election are the driving force behind the firearms sales surge, said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel at the nonprofit Newtown, Conn-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry's trade association.
"There is significant concern among the consumers that in a second term by the administration they will pivot on the gun issue and pursue policies that will restrict their Second Amendment rights," Keane said.
Read More > http://www.emissourian.com/more_news/business_news/article_b891b686-95eb-11e1-8f32-0019bb2963f4.html
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