Gun sales in the waning months of 2008 saw a dramatic spike in Utah, a trend gunowners say is propelled by the election of Barack Obama and a faltering economy, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. Nearly 9,000 more guns were sold in November compared to the same month last year. Lt. Doug Anderson, manager at the Bureau of Criminal Identification, anticipates another large leap for the end of the month. “Mostly it’s an election scare,” said Michael Martin, a sales representative at Impact Guns. “Everyone was freaking out about the elections, and now it’s not so much about them but about everyone else freaking out about the people who were freaking out about the election. It’s a clear and known rush.”
At Kearns’ Impact Guns, assault weapons, such as AR-15s and AK-47s are out-of-stock after a post-election rush. Handguns are contributing to increasing sales numbers, and concealed weapons permit applications are jumping as well. The president of another gun store says: “People want to know how to use them in a jam. People are telling me ‘I’m worried about an economic downturn and crime going up.'” Gary Sackett, a board member of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, points to gun dealers as fueling the scare on a potential gun ban. “They are trying to get people to panic or if not panic, at least to think this is the last chance to buy these weapons,” he said. Steve Gunn, another board member, says the panic over the Obama administration’s gun policies isn’t rooted in reality. Most gun laws are enacted and enforced by individual states.