At gun shops, cash registers rang more like Christmas Eve than St. Patrick’s Day as firearm and ammunition sales soared through the roof Tuesday. Shop owners and managers cited customers’ concerns about home defense related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were closed Monday, but when we opened today it was like Christmas,” said Nate Gerheim, manager of The Shooters Bench in West Deer. “It’s mostly handguns, 9mm and .556[-caliber], but shotguns and some AR-15s, too. Mostly home defense weapons.”
The Pittsburgh-area sales spike reflected nationwide firearms sales that The Associated Press referred to as a “buying frenzy” fueled by consumers worried that as COVID-19 cases increase people were becoming desperate and unpredictable, leading homeowners to ensure they could protect themselves.
Marty Patterson, assistant manager of National Armory in Moon, called it a “panic.”
“They’re guarding their toilet paper, pretty much,” he said. “It’s media hype, really — a panic spread by the media. Mostly they’re buying stuff to protect their home, a lot of shotguns, but — of course — handguns, too.”
In phone calls to 11 guns shops in Allegheny County on Tuesday afternoon, gun-shop employees said they were extremely busy; most were too busy to talk. A few took messages and at two shops the phone line was busy for hours.
“A lot of ammunition is selling out,” said Mr. Patterson. “Whatever [guns] they own, that’s what they’re buying. We sell a lot of 9mm. That’s selling out. We have nine boxes left.”
The Shooter’s Bench was almost out of .40-caliber ammunition, but Mr. Gerheim said supplies were already low and it might not be related to the COVID-19 selloff.
“We’re selling out of .556, too. It’s going fast,” he said.
Gooch Ionadi, co-owner of Smoke N Guns, a tobacco and gun shop in Oakmont, said he was rationing 9mm shells. No sales for the ammo only, he said, and just one box with each 9mm handgun sale.
“It’s ridiculous. None of my wholesalers have [9mm], either,” he said. “It’s been gone since last week.”
Gun shops reported long delays in getting firearm background checks, which in Pennsylvania go through the state police. The system was inoperative for hours at a time, and when it was up the waiting times were long.
“Yesterday morning it was down for three hours,” said Mr. Ionadi. “Today it was up, then down. A 30-second wait, then 20 minutes, then an hour. Last we checked, it was down for 1 hour 35 minutes and we went home.”
Nationwide, background checks had already increased considerably over 2019. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported just over 5.5 million background checks were conducted in January and February combined. Gun sales generally rise during election years, but the AP reported that in February gun sales had outpaced those in 2016 by nearly 350,000.
Long lines for new and renewed concealed-carry permits caused Allegheny County Courts to temporarily close its Firearms Division. Concealed-carry permits allow gun holders to carry the firearms out of sight.
Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen said the office was temporarily closed to protect its workers from contact with people who might have COVID-19.
“We usually get 75 to 100 people a day coming in for concealed-carry permits. Yesterday we had more than double that — 197,” he said.
With concerns that people infected with COVID-19 may interact with employees of the Firearms Division, at 3 p.m. Monday the office was temporarily closed for two weeks.
“We’ll take a look at it then and decide what to do,” said Sheriff Mullen.
A message on the sheriff’s office website instructed Allegheny County residents whose concealed-carry permits will expire soon that they can continue to use their licenses.
“As long as you are eligible to renew your license, said license is still valid for six months beyond the printed expiration date on the license,” the message stated.
Those seeking applications for new concealed-carry permits will have to wait.
“We’re obligated by the Constitution to make sure people have access [to firearms], and we’ll catch up with [concealed-carry] permits when this is over,” he said.
The AP reported industry experts said the firearm sales spike grew over a number of days. Some of the sales were to people buying their first firearm. Others were existing gun owners adding to their collection or stocking up on ammunition after seeing grocery stores depleted, schools closed and big events canceled, including the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting.
John Hayes: 412-263-1991, jhayes@post-gazette.com.
First Published: March 17, 2020, 6:57 p.m.
