These new owners aren’t buying for any other reason than the cluebat of ‘You are your own First Responder’ hit them upside the head.
Pawnshop owner sees increase in first-time gun buyers amidst coronavirus pandemic
While St. Clair County Sheriff Department numbers do not indicate an abnormal increase in individual gun sales, one pawnshop owner said he is seeing an increase in first-time gun buyers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first three months of 2019, the St. Clair County Sheriff Department recorded 1,714 individual guns purchased in St. Clair County, compared to 1,630 guns in the first three months of 2020. The sheriff department’s numbers do not reflect sales reported to city police departments outside the sheriff’s jurisdiction.
About 616 guns were purchased in March, compared to 447 in February. These numbers aren’t too far off from 2019, when 637 and 434 guns were purchased, respectively.
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Tim Daniels, owner of the Hock Shop in downtown Port Huron, said it’s normal to see an increase in sales around this time of the year because people are receiving their tax refunds, and many use them to buy big-ticket items like a gun.
However, for about the past six weeks, the increase in sales is larger than his gun/pawn shop would normally see, he said.
“We had this push and this concern for people defending themselves,” Daniels said.
He said he has recently seen a lot of first-time buyers. While he has noticed an increase in all gun sales, Daniels said buyers are especially interested in firearms that are simple to operate and are designed for self-defense.
“We’re seeing a step up (in sales) in entry-level firearms,” Daniels said, “firearms that are more basic.”……..
A spokesman from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Office said gun shops are not considered critical infrastructure under Whitmer’s stay at home order, which is in effect until April 13. However, pawnshops are allowed to operate under the order because they are considered financial institutions……..