Wednesday, December 3rd 2014, 7:33 pm
Record guns sales for the month of November are being reported in several states. Some experts attribute the sales spike to the turmoil in Ferguson, others say it was the boost in advertising.
Gun store owners across Oklahoma City say it could have been the holiday sales or maybe it was fear stemming from the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. Either way they're rejoicing the boom in sales.
“Here in the store we saw a huge spike. Our sales actually set record sales for us in the month of November,” said Wilshire Gun Retail Manager Scott Tatum.
Tatum saw lots of first time gun buyers in the store last month. Estimating two-thirds of them left with a hand gun the other third purchasing rifles.
He believes chatter of the violence in Ferguson from customers around the store may have driven them to the purchase.
Take a look at Gun Sale trends across the U.S.
“The events that have happened in Missouri I think did have an effect because I hear people talk around the floor about the Missouri incident. They are a little bit more nervous than they were before,” said Tatum.
Oklahoma's guns sales were up for the month of November, but not as high as other states. Missouri's sales were up 27 percent, California's 21 percent, Illinois was up 15 percent, and Oklahoma up 5 percent.
“It's a good trend. People are really conscious about what's going on in the world and they want to make sure their family and themselves are safe,” he said.
Black Friday this year set a record for gun sales according to the FBI. On that day, 175,000 background checks were performed.
While gun sale spikes are often driven by fear and anxiety some industry expert see the increase as a result of abundant advertising and liquidation sales from stores closing
The December following the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting holds the record for gun sales. That month more than 2.7 million were sold.
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