Is the number of gun owners in America rising or declining?
Sales of handguns, rifles and ammunition have surged in the past week, according to gun store owners around the United States who describe a wave of buyers concerned that an Obama administration will curtail their right to bear arms. “He’s a gun-snatcher,” said Jim Pruett, owner of Jim Pruett’s Guns and Ammo in northwest Houston, which was packed with shoppers on Thursday. “He wants to take our guns from us and create a socialist society policed by his own police force,” added Pruett, a former radio personality. He was talking about President-elect Barack Obama. Pruett said that sales on Saturday, before the election, ran about seven times higher than a typical good Saturday. A spot check by reporters in four other states easily found Pruett’s comments echoed from both sides of the counter. David Nelson, a co-owner of Montana Ordnance & Supply, in Missoula, Montana, said his buyers were “awake and aware and see a dangerous trend.” Nelson said that sales at his store had risen about 30
