As polls and pundits increasingly pointed to the election of Barack Obama as president, scores of Utahns flocked to gun stores, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. Obama has supported renewing the expired federal assault weapons ban, which stops the manufacture of several semiautomatic guns with large magazines. Local gun dealers quickly are running out of stock of magazines for Colt AR-15s and AK models and many have seen a sharp increase in the sales of those guns. Pretty much anything with more than 10 rounds is in high demand right now,” said one dealer.
While many avid gun owners now are buying $3,000 worth of guns, accessories, and spare parts instead of the more typical $1,000, they aren’t the only ones stocking up. One supplier has seen a big increase in people wanting to learn how to use the large assault rifles by signing up for classes at the store. “I’ve seen a wider demographic of customers. There are more and more professionals. I see doctors getting assault weapons instead of just their hunting rifles,” he said. Gary Sackett, a board member of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, hopes that with Obama in office and a Democratic majority in Congress, new gun legislation will surface soon.