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Monday, Nov 26, 2012 10:12 PM UTC

Gun sales spike following Obama’s reelection

The president's passing reference to assault rifle ban during a debate has gun owners stocking up

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Topics: Barack Obama, Texas, Guns, Big story you missed, Election 2012, 2nd Amendment,

Gun sales spike following Obama's reelection

Evidence suggests that gun sales have spiked since Obama’s reelection. According to Texas’ Fort Worth Star Telegram “thousands” of Americans are “buying up ammo, handguns and other firearms, citing concerns that Obama might push new regulations in his second term or that U.N. agreements might infringe on the U.S. gun market.”

Both the Star Telegram and the Houston Chronicle reported that gun shops had announced an increase in sales since Obama’s Nov. 6 election victory. In Fort Worth, gun sales have reportedly been twice as high as in the same period last year. And, as the Chronicle noted, The FBI reported an 18 percent spike in firearm background checks increasing in the months leading up the election. Officials say background checks are the leading indicator of sales growth.

“In the days after the 2008 election, people began stocking up on firearms and ammunition, eventually creating a shortage. It took nearly a year for supplies to become more plentiful and for prices to come down,” the Star Telegram noted.

During an October presidential debate Obama expressed what the Wall Street Journal called “tepid support” for reintroducing the assault rifle ban that expired in 2004. It was this comment, analysts believe, that has sent Americans running for their ammo. However, as Marsha McCartney, a spokeswoman for the Texas chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told the Star Telegram, “I personally think it’s very silly … The president has not done anything in four years to make them think he’s coming to get their guns.”

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.

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