Increased gun sales have become a symptom of the coronavirus.
Across the country, especially in states with large numbers of COVID-19 infections, people are going out and buying guns and ammunition out of fears that the pandemic could spiral out of control, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“When I say sales have been booming,” said David Stone, who owns a gun shop in Oklahoma, “it’s an understatement.”
Stone said he had recently seen an uptick in purchases and said he had sold guns and ammunition to a number of truckers traveling on Interstate 44 who have come into his Tulsa store.
“You got to be protected for all sorts of stuff,” he said. “Seems like the world has gone mad.”
Ammunition seller Ammo.com said it had seen a 68% increase in purchases from Feb. 23 to March 4 compared with the 11 days before Feb. 23. One report found that Asian Americans have increased purchases over fears that there could be some sort of xenophobic backlash to the virus, which originated in central China.
David Liu, who owns Arcadia Firearm and Safety in Los Angeles, said there had been a fivefold increase in sales at his store. Liu said his store had a shortage in Glock handguns.
“People are panicking because they don’t feel secure,” Liu said. “They worry about a riot or maybe that people will start to target the Chinese.”
Other gun owners have speculated that the lack of sports might also be driving the run on gun stores. Bryan Pratt, a gun enthusiast in Oklahoma, said he liked to use his firearms on the weekend as sources of entertainment amid the outbreak have become limited.
“There’s no sports games on,” he said, “so I guess people want to shoot.”
There have been at least 3,774 cases and 69 deaths in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began. President Trump declared a national emergency on Friday.
