The sale of all types of guns is fast and furious these days. Billy Carter of Carter Country Shooting Range and Gun Retail says new gun buyers are a part of the push. "Our industry right now has seen the biggest new gun buyers influx than it has seen in 60 years." So what's behind the continued surge? Carter says, "Some of it, naturally, is fueled by the politics in the country right now. The folks in charge at the moment let their intentions be known that they are anti-gun. A lot of people are scared out there." Carter says their new buyers run the gamut of age, race and gender.
The surge in new buyers is also a reason for ammunition manufacturers' inability to keep up with the demand. "If you take 18 million new gun buyers in the past 13 months, and sell them 2 boxes of ammunition for the gun they just purchased, that's 36 million boxes of ammunition that need to be manufactured just for the new gun buyers. Now think about all the other ammunition buyers who have had guns for years."
Carter doesn't think the glut of buyers is a fluke. "I don't think, by far, it's over. Our phones are still ringing off the wall. There's still a tremendous demand." Carter says their shooting range activity is way up as well.
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