Lafayette gun sales continue to go up

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Dave Schnelle can't keep his store in stock.

"Ammunition is flying off the shelves," Schnelle said. "Firearms, reloading components, everything [is selling out]."

Schnelle owns Applied Ballistic Systems in Lafayette. He is just one of many gun shop owners around the nation who has seen skyrocketing gun sales.

"Our sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 were up 40 percent," Schnelle said.

Owners at Four Guns on Earl Avenue track the same kind of sales. They said they've seen Black Friday sales for the last month.

Outside Four Guns a sign names President Obama the store's salesman of the year. By it they mean the possible looming gun regulations drive customers in.

"[The customers] are basically telling us that they're afraid that in the future sales will be restricted," Schnelle said. "They tend to rush in and buy what they have been thinking of buying and stock up and buy now."

According to a National Shooting Sports Foundation report gun sales went up by nearly 800,000 in December 2012 compared to the same month in 2011. All together almost 3 million more guns were sold in 2012 compared to the year before.

"We could bring in a truckload of AR 15s and they would be gone in a week," Schnelle said.

Schnelle said people see possible regulations being put on semiautomatic guns and high-capacity magazines. Not only are they buying now, they're buying at any price.

"If you look on the internet the going price for an AR 15 is anywhere between $700 to $1,000," Schnelle said. "Now they're bringing in upward to $2,000."

Schnelle said this situation is a double-edged sword for him. The sales are nice, but he said he rather have less sales and no fear of gun regulations.

Vice President Joe Biden is heading a task force on gun control. Many meetings have been held, but no action has been taken yet.