The Hawkeye State’s voters will be caucusing soon in the first bout of the 2016 presidential primary season February 1, but they’re also exercising their Second Amendment rights with unusual fervor. That’s good. As author Robert A. Heinlein said, “an armed society is a polite society.” And yes, the reasons for the spike in gun sales and permit applications is due the past terrorist-inspired shooting in San Bernardino and President Obama’s executive orders on gun control. In some locations in the state, dealers are unable to keep up with demand, as the holiday rush hasn’t subsided (via Des Moines Register):
Iowans looking to purchase a gun may have to be patient: Gun dealers and sheriff's departments around the state say they're seeing an influx in sales and applications for permits.[…]
Moreover, several gun dealers interviewed by The Des Moines Register say their sales have been on the rise since the end of November, with store purchases increasing by 10 percent to 30 percent.
Indeed, according to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, Iowa had more firearm background checks conducted in December 2015 than any other month last year. There were 25,941 background checks in December, compared with 7,000 to 17,000 every other month.
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Some people buying guns are telling store employees it's because of President Barack Obama's executive action on gun control. Other customers say it's because they want to protect themselves from local crime or highly publicized mass shootings, such as the recent San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack, store managers said.
Adding to the influx, sheriff's department officials across Iowa say, is a 2011 state law that let Iowans apply for the first time for a five-year carry permit, meaning those permits start coming up for renewal this year. In 2011, the state issued 101,518 permits, about double its regular number of applications.
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Royal Nahno-Kerchee, training coordinator at Rangemasters shooting range and gun shop in Clive, estimated his business' gun sales increased 10 percent or 15 percent in the week after Obama's recent gun control speech.
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After the San Bernardino mass shooting, Rangemasters' gun sales increased about 30 percent, Nahno-Kerchee said. The business has been staffing its store with extra employees since Thanksgiving to keep up with the demand, he said.
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American Brothers in Arms, a gun shop in Sioux City, has seen a sales increase of 20 percent to 25 percent from the same time last year to this year, said Chase Cejka, store co-owner.
"We are running low on guns. We're selling them faster than we can get them," Cejka said.
Now, that’s just terrible…for the dealers running low on firearms to sell. Be safe and vigilant, fellow Iowans.