Gun show attendance breaks records amid record-breaking gun sales
Organizers and sellers are attributing this year’s success to the cancellations of other gun shows due to COVID, among other factors.

BLOOMFIELD — At the Bloomfield Gun Show, the aisles were packed and the hardware was basically flying off the tables.

“Extremely busy yesterday,” said Garret Kuhl “I know I’ve talked to a few guys who put it on, they said it was record crowds, which wasn’t surprising.”

“The year 2020 set a record for the most guns purchased by US civilians.”

Organizers and sellers are attributing this year’s success to the cancellations of other gun shows due to COVID, among other factors.

“The civil unrest and stuff we saw in 2020 and some of the panic buying, and then getting closer to the election, gun sales were certainly picking up,”

2020 was a year filled with fear, uncertainty, discord, and outright violence – some of it trickling into the early moments of 2021.

Joe Biden is heading into the oval office this month, and one of his presidential promises for the new administration is zeroing in on Gun Control.

One of the tenets of that initiative is banning the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

While loosely defined, seven states have bans on what they consider to be assault weapons, with exact models being named and prohibited.

“They’re going to try and make it as restrictive as can be,” said Pheasants Forever Treasurer Steven Barney, “we have lots of regulations. We need to enforce what we got. Additional ones just hurt the law-abiding citizen.”

Nebraska does not currently have any assault weapon bans, but there is a need to have a license to purchase handguns and for concealed carrying. Private sales of pistols also require background checks.

Gun sales also soared under the Obama administration. With his then running mate now coming to be the head of state, the boom probably won’t be slowing down any time soon.

“A lot of stuff is really hard to find. Every dealer here is experiencing that,” Kuhl said. “Unfortunately, I don’t see it getting any better. A lot of people ask, hey, when’s ammo going to be back in stock? When can I order this gun, or this gun