While people in Australia are stocking up on toilet paper, in Netherlands on weed, the sale of guns and ammunition is going up in the US.?That¡¯s right. people in the US are?PANIC-BUYING GUNS, amid the coronavirus crisis.?
Reportedly, amid fears of social unrest Americans are prompted to turn to firearms as a form of self-protection.?According to The Guardian, customers were queuing up outside gun stores on the west coast to stock up on deadly materials.?
Martin B Retting's gun shop in Culver City, California, saw queues stretched round the block throughout the weekend.
¡°Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest time that we don¡¯t need guns. But right now, a lot of people are truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves,¡± LA Times quoted one person as saying.?
Larry Hyatt, owner of one of the country¡¯s largest gun shops, Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, told The Guardian that he had seen something like this only once before.¡°This is only the second time in my 61 years of business that we¡¯ve seen anything like this,¡± he said.?
The first occasion was after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012.?¡°We are experiencing a massive rush to buy guns and ammunition as people feel the need to protect themselves and their families,¡± he further said.?
People are not buying hunting rifles but opting for target guns like, AR-15 semi-automatic assault-style rifles.?According to Hyatt the reason for the spike in gun buying is, ¡°Financial meltdown, pandemic, crime, politics ¡ you throw it all into the pot, and you have one hell of a mess.¡±
A major online dealer of ammunition, Ammo.com, reported that in 11 days (February 23-March 4) sales increased by 68%!?North Carolina and Georgia, saw a leap of 179% and 169% respectively. Other states that saw increased sales are Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York.
Ammo.com¡¯s marketing manager, Alex Horsman in a statement said, ¡®We know certain things impact ammo sales, mostly political events or economic instability when people feel their rights may end up infringed. This is our first experience with a virus leading to such a boost in sales¡¯.
Gun sales are also increasing because of fear of racism and xenophobia.?
¡°People are panicking because they don¡¯t feel secure. They worry about a riot or maybe that people will start to target the Chinese,¡± The Trace quoted David Liu, a Chinese-American gun dealer outside Los Angeles as saying.
At this point of time when people are already in a state of panic, loading up on weapons of violence does not appear to be the sanest of ideas, and it is rather saddening that it has come to this.?