USA: Gun sales soar amid fears that President Obama will reinstate assault weapons ban

Record ID: 376625

  • Title: USA: Gun sales soar amid fears that President Obama will reinstate assault weapons ban
  • Date: 12th June 2009
  • Summary: COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 20, 2009) (REUTERS) MEL BERNSTEIN DISCUSSING HIS ARMED VEHICLE BERNSTEIN'S "ATTACK 1" VEHICLE MACHINE GUN AND BULLETS DUMMY NEXT TO WRECKED CAR OUTSIDE "DRAGON ARMS" ENTRANCE, WITH SIGN READING "THIS GUY WAS A REGISTERED DEMOCRAT!' SIGNS OUTSIDE THE "DRAGON ARMS" WARNING TRESPASSERS BULLET HOLES IN CAR, PULL FOCU
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9MW1RQILAH7SMPVZZHIC9MVRI
  • Story Text: Mel Bernstein's vehicle of choice is machine-gun equipped and bullet proof. Bernstein owns a gun store called Dragon Arms outside Colorado Springs and he is licensed to sell assault weapons. He loves guns and in the 28 years since he moved to Colorado from New York business has never been so good.
    Following President Barack Obama's election last November, Dragon Arms sales rose by 500%, coinciding with a nationwide increase in firearm sales tied to perceptions that Obama will move to restrict gun ownership.
    "We can't replace what we're selling, ammunition is real hard to get. The dealers order fifteen guns, we're lucky if we get five," said Bernstein.
    In the first four months of this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ran just over 5 million instant background checks on individuals applying to buy firearms from licensed dealers or at gun shows, its data shows. This was an increase of more than 25 percent from the 3.9 million checks made over the same period last year. Ammunition is also in short supply.
    Gun enthusiasts are convinced that President Obama will reinstate the assault weapons ban that President Bill Clinton signed in 1994, which expired in 2004.
    During an April visit to Mexico, President Obama promised Mexico's president Felipe Calderon to help his "courageous" fight against ruthless drug cartels waging turf wars along the joint border. Obama said Mexico and the United States both needed to strengthen and coordinate their drug war efforts, criticizing the easy accessibility of assault weapons over the U.S. - Mexico border.
    "More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border. So, we have responsibilities as well," he said.
    Mexico is struggling to contain a surge in drug violence that killed 6,300 people in Mexico last year and is starting to spill over into the United States.
    A political powerhouse with nearly 4 million members, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is rallying its members to defend their right to bear arms stated in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The organization held it's annual meeting and exhibition in May in Phoenix, Arizona. It is one of the few places in the United States where all attendees may carry weapons in the conference rooms and exhibition halls. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam says that since Obama took office, gun enthusiasts and hunters are concerned about their right to own weapons.
    "There are still people in America and people who hold elected office who don't believe in this American freedom and will do everything they can to curtail it," he said.
    John Cox, was considering buying a semi-automatic weapon, says that it is unfair to blame gun owners for the supply of weapons to Mexican drug cartels, adding that the weapons could be sourced from a number of different countries.
    "The cartels are making billions of dollars and they can get it from the Russians or Guatemala or China," he said.
    NRA member Christine Burns does not intend to use her gun, but she says she needs it for self-protection.
    "I am not going to be prey to someone who wants to harm me and feel that I am helpless because President Obama believes that that's the way it should be," she said.
    Bernstein has erected a fake Iraqi village on his property where U.S. military special forces train three times a week. Using one of his many AK-47 assault weapons, Bernstein demonstrated the type of exercises the troops practice.
    Bernstein says that most of the people he knows who own assault weapons do so for sport and investment. The price of a typical AK-47 has doubled since Obama's election and Bernstein says that if outlawed, these guns will double once again in price.
    "I love the feel of these guns, I like to feel the power, I like the destruction that it does when it hits the target. You know, it's a man thing, you know, real men shoot assault rifles," he said.
    A credit cardholder bill signed into law on May 22 by Obama, surprisingly included a Republican amendment that will let people carry loaded guns in national parks. The law will take full effect in February 2010.
    Gun control advocates, prompted by Wednesday's (June 10) shooting at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. which killed a security guard, are amping up their call for Congress to review the law. An internet statement by the President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Paul Helmke, issued in response to the Holocaust Museum shooting, says that congress "should re-think their decision to allow more guns in our national public areas," and that it "is dangerous to force more guns into places that American families expect to be gun-free and safe."
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