Md., Va. Gun Sales Up in '99 http://washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=wpni/print&articleid=A57831-2000Mar11
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday , March 12, 2000 ; A1
Firearms sales surged in Maryland and Virginia in 1999, sharply reversing a long-term slide in gun purchases as people stocked up on weapons in response to millennial fears and in anticipation of
more gun-control laws.
The number of people seeking to buy handguns in Maryland jumped by 19 percent last year, while the number of firearms transactions in Virginia rose by 17 percent, according to law enforcement
records. Both states had seen a steady decline in gun sales since 1994, the peak year for the decade.
National figures are hard to come by, but gun dealers and trade groups said sales rose across the country, a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for the firearms industry, which was battered by a
flood of headline-grabbing gunmen, liability lawsuits and new gun-control proposals.
Dealers said the brisk business was a predictable consequence of efforts to tighten gun laws, explaining that people often rush out to buy firearms when politicians float plans to ban certain
weapons or restrict ownership.
Maryland lawmakers, for example, are debating a bill that would require all new guns sold in the state to be equipped eventually with high-tech safety locks that would prevent anyone except the
owner from firing the weapon. Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran upped the ante in October with a call to outlaw handguns in the state.
Although Curran's proposal isn't likely to become law any time soon, "when you hear that kind of talk, it definitely spurs interest" in gun sales, said George Harting, a salesman at Gilbert's Guns, in
Rockville. He said the store just completed its best year in business since 1994.
Gun-control talk is just as loud nationally. President Clinton has called for government registration of handguns. And although bills that would require more background checks for buyers at gun
shows have stalled in Congress, several states have passed stricter measures, such as California's move to limit handgun purchases to one a month.
"Any time we have increased talk of gun control, it seems like it raises gun sales," said Larry Ference, research director for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry group based in
Newton, Conn. "People don't want to go through more rigamarole to get guns."
Andy Molchan, director of the National Association of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers, said he expects sales to remain strong this year if guns remain a hot political topic through the fall
elections.
"Firearms is going to be a major campaign issue, and the bottom-line result is going to be that it will sell a lot of guns," he said.
In Virginia, people bought 215,144 handguns, rifles and shotguns in 1999, nearly one-fifth more than the year before. It was the highest total since 1994, when 236,669 guns were sold. "The
numbers were consistently high during the whole year," said Lt. Robert G. Kemmler of the Virginia State Police, which conducts criminal background checks on all gun buyers.
The story was similar in Maryland, where 33,038 people applied to buy handguns in 1999, up from 27,667 the year before. The Maryland State Police, which does not monitor sales of rifles and
shotguns, said it was still tallying up the actual number of handguns purchased last year but expected a comparable increase.
Handgun sales in Maryland began dropping in 1994 after the number of applications peaked at 41,549, but plunged dramatically after October 1996, when a new state law limited most residents to
buying no more than one gun a month. Virginia has had a similar law in place since 1993. (The gun trade is heavily restricted in the District, where handguns are essentially illegal.)
Last year's burst countered a long-term national trend of flagging demand for guns. The number of firearms manufactured for sale in the United States declined by 43 percent from 1993 to 1998,
the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Several gun dealers said their business was also bolstered in 1999 by a one-time windfall: people preparing for the end of the millennium.
Harry Merchant, manager at the Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, attributed 30 percent of his store's sales during the holiday shopping season to customers who wanted to make sure they could
protect themselves in case chaos broke out on Jan. 1, 2000.
"The last quarter of last year was a real boom," he said. "We couldn't keep stuff on the shelves. We could have sold 50 percent more if we had had the inventory."
At AArundel Arms and Ammunition, an Annapolis firearms shop, manager Jim Evans said Y2K fears contributed to a 30 percent increase in sales last year, bringing in many first-time customers.
Evans said one man walked into the store on Dec. 30 asking to buy a pistol and was frustrated to learn that he couldn't take the weapon home by New Year's Eve because of Maryland's 7-day
waiting period for handgun purchases, a rule that has been on the books for more than 30 years.
"This guy was a yuppie in a business suit who said he needed a gun for Y2K," Evans said. "He had no clue. We had to tell him, 'No sir, you can't take this home with you tonight.'‚"
Just as firearms dealers experienced heavier demand for their products, law enforcement authorities reported an increase in the number of people they caught trying to buy guns illegally.
Maryland State Police rejected 592 handgun sales last year – more than double the number in 1998 – after conducting background checks on buyers and discovering a criminal record or other
infractions that made them ineligible to obtain firearms.
"It's tough to say why," said Lt. A.J. McAndrew, who is in charge of the Maryland State Police firearms registration section. "We used the same screening [procedures]. I guess I'd just sum it up
by saying more bad guys applied to buy guns in 1999."
Virginia officials denied 2,987 firearms transactions last year, an 18 percent increase over 1998, according to state police figures.
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday , March 12, 2000 ; A1
Firearms sales surged in Maryland and Virginia in 1999, sharply reversing a long-term slide in gun purchases as people stocked up on weapons in response to millennial fears and in anticipation of
more gun-control laws.
The number of people seeking to buy handguns in Maryland jumped by 19 percent last year, while the number of firearms transactions in Virginia rose by 17 percent, according to law enforcement
records. Both states had seen a steady decline in gun sales since 1994, the peak year for the decade.
National figures are hard to come by, but gun dealers and trade groups said sales rose across the country, a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for the firearms industry, which was battered by a
flood of headline-grabbing gunmen, liability lawsuits and new gun-control proposals.
Dealers said the brisk business was a predictable consequence of efforts to tighten gun laws, explaining that people often rush out to buy firearms when politicians float plans to ban certain
weapons or restrict ownership.
Maryland lawmakers, for example, are debating a bill that would require all new guns sold in the state to be equipped eventually with high-tech safety locks that would prevent anyone except the
owner from firing the weapon. Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran upped the ante in October with a call to outlaw handguns in the state.
Although Curran's proposal isn't likely to become law any time soon, "when you hear that kind of talk, it definitely spurs interest" in gun sales, said George Harting, a salesman at Gilbert's Guns, in
Rockville. He said the store just completed its best year in business since 1994.
Gun-control talk is just as loud nationally. President Clinton has called for government registration of handguns. And although bills that would require more background checks for buyers at gun
shows have stalled in Congress, several states have passed stricter measures, such as California's move to limit handgun purchases to one a month.
"Any time we have increased talk of gun control, it seems like it raises gun sales," said Larry Ference, research director for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry group based in
Newton, Conn. "People don't want to go through more rigamarole to get guns."
Andy Molchan, director of the National Association of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers, said he expects sales to remain strong this year if guns remain a hot political topic through the fall
elections.
"Firearms is going to be a major campaign issue, and the bottom-line result is going to be that it will sell a lot of guns," he said.
In Virginia, people bought 215,144 handguns, rifles and shotguns in 1999, nearly one-fifth more than the year before. It was the highest total since 1994, when 236,669 guns were sold. "The
numbers were consistently high during the whole year," said Lt. Robert G. Kemmler of the Virginia State Police, which conducts criminal background checks on all gun buyers.
The story was similar in Maryland, where 33,038 people applied to buy handguns in 1999, up from 27,667 the year before. The Maryland State Police, which does not monitor sales of rifles and
shotguns, said it was still tallying up the actual number of handguns purchased last year but expected a comparable increase.
Handgun sales in Maryland began dropping in 1994 after the number of applications peaked at 41,549, but plunged dramatically after October 1996, when a new state law limited most residents to
buying no more than one gun a month. Virginia has had a similar law in place since 1993. (The gun trade is heavily restricted in the District, where handguns are essentially illegal.)
Last year's burst countered a long-term national trend of flagging demand for guns. The number of firearms manufactured for sale in the United States declined by 43 percent from 1993 to 1998,
the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Several gun dealers said their business was also bolstered in 1999 by a one-time windfall: people preparing for the end of the millennium.
Harry Merchant, manager at the Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, attributed 30 percent of his store's sales during the holiday shopping season to customers who wanted to make sure they could
protect themselves in case chaos broke out on Jan. 1, 2000.
"The last quarter of last year was a real boom," he said. "We couldn't keep stuff on the shelves. We could have sold 50 percent more if we had had the inventory."
At AArundel Arms and Ammunition, an Annapolis firearms shop, manager Jim Evans said Y2K fears contributed to a 30 percent increase in sales last year, bringing in many first-time customers.
Evans said one man walked into the store on Dec. 30 asking to buy a pistol and was frustrated to learn that he couldn't take the weapon home by New Year's Eve because of Maryland's 7-day
waiting period for handgun purchases, a rule that has been on the books for more than 30 years.
"This guy was a yuppie in a business suit who said he needed a gun for Y2K," Evans said. "He had no clue. We had to tell him, 'No sir, you can't take this home with you tonight.'‚"
Just as firearms dealers experienced heavier demand for their products, law enforcement authorities reported an increase in the number of people they caught trying to buy guns illegally.
Maryland State Police rejected 592 handgun sales last year – more than double the number in 1998 – after conducting background checks on buyers and discovering a criminal record or other
infractions that made them ineligible to obtain firearms.
"It's tough to say why," said Lt. A.J. McAndrew, who is in charge of the Maryland State Police firearms registration section. "We used the same screening [procedures]. I guess I'd just sum it up
by saying more bad guys applied to buy guns in 1999."
Virginia officials denied 2,987 firearms transactions last year, an 18 percent increase over 1998, according to state police figures.