Customers at gun shops around Durango have been buying ammunition and firearms at an accelerated rate, and business owners are scrambling to stock shelves with handgun and shotgun rounds.
With the spread of the coronavirus, firearm sales are up across the state, which is apparent by an extended wait for background checks from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. A normal wait time for a background check is 10 to 15 minutes, according to a manager at KP Pawn & Sales; now, it’s more than 48 hours.
“I would say you get a little bit of all walks of life,” said Robert, the manager at KP Pawn & Sales, who declined to give his last name. “There are definitely people that come in that are more getting prepared for what’s to come. Others are being frantic because they want to stock up.”
Firearm sales are almost double from normal at KP Pawn & Sales. CBI reported 14,000 requests for background checks in the past week, compared with about 7,000 in the comparable week in 2019.
Ammunition sales are also up, according to interviews with businesses around the city. Gardenswartz Sporting Goods has seen a spike in sales of 9 mm, .38 caliber and shotgun rounds, said Manager Thomas Downing. Rocky Mountain Pawn & Gun is sold-out of 9 mm rounds and ammunition for assault weapons – including 5.56x45 mm and .223 Remington rounds, owner Bruce Dominey said.
An employee at Goods for the Woods in Durango declined to give an interview, saying the business has been so busy, “We don’t have time to go to the bathroom.”
KP Pawn & Sales is also selling out of gold and silver as buyers seek refuge from stock markets, the manager said.
Customers at Gardenswartz are mostly local, Downing said. Gardenswartz sells firearms for hunting, but people seem to be more interested in ammunition for self-defense, he said.
“Most are looking to protect themselves during this time, and that seems understandable,” Downing said. “There’s the fear of the unknown and ‘we don’t know what’s going to happen here.’”
The rush to buy ammunition and firearms started a few days ago, Dominey said. Ammunition shelves are bare, he said, and so many customers were in the business Tuesday that people were knocking each other over.
“They’re preparing, I guess, for something – I don’t know what,” he said. “The coronavirus is all I can think.”
bhauff@ durangoherald.com
