In the final days before Christmas, two items have topped Lenoir County residents’ shopping lists: guns and ammunition.
“We’ve been having aggressive sales, but we have aggressive sales this time of year, every year,” said Neuse Sport Shop President Russell Rhodes. “But it has been abnormally high.”
The fallout of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Connecticut took many forms, with one of them being new steps toward gun law reform from Congress and the White House. Reaction to possible legislation has taken the form of a preemptive spike in sales of firearms and ammunition.
“I don’t know how much the event that occurred in Connecticut played with going to get a gun — I guess that’s all tied together,” Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris Hill said. “But if I had to name a catalyst for why gun permits are at a fever pitch right now, it’s because of some statements made in Washington about gun control.”
Pickup trucks filled the parking lot of Neuse Sport Shop midday Friday as the firearms counter conducted brisk business. Some weapons and ammunition have been in such heavy demand that supply isn’t keeping up.
Rhodes said, however, the store is working to make sure everyone has equal access to the same merchandise.
“We’ve set a limit of five boxes per style (of ammunition) for any customer coming into the store,” Rhodes said. “They can buy five boxes of Type A, and then five boxes of Type B, but for any one caliber of gun, it’s five boxes. That helps us keep people from hoarding — taking all of one caliber and keeping other people from having the ability to buy.”
While customers at Neuse didn’t want to be quoted on the record, conversation about gun and ammo demand reflected back on statements by President Barack Obama regarding restrictive gun laws several days earlier.
Staff at the Walmart on U.S. 70 referred all questions to the store’s corporate media relations department, which in a message said it only reveals sales information on a quarterly basis.
The increase of gun ownership in the county can be seen acutely at the LCSO on Hill’s desk, where a 2-inch stack of yet-to-be-processed gun permit applications lay Friday afternoon.
“We’ve been so busy, I’ve been taking work home to try to stay on top of it, so people can get their gun permits,” Hill said. “We do exhaustive background (checks), and that takes time and staff to do those kind of things. We have seen an enormous amount of permit applications here. Not only for gun permits, but concealed weapon permits.”
The numbers speak for themselves. From Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 18, 2008, there were 643 gun permits and 245 concealed carry permits issued. During that period this year, there were 875 gun permits — along with 44 awaiting pick-up — and 562 concealed carry permits issued.
To put last week’s events in stark relief, 22 gun applications came into the LCSO from Dec. 6-12. That number more than doubled to 47 from Dec. 14-21; that means new applicants may have to wait a little longer than normal.
“We tell people seven days, but now we’ve been so inundated with gun permits, we’re now looking beyond seven days,” Hill said. “Although we’re trying to stay on top of it, and trying to turn them out as hard as we can go, we can’t guarantee seven days anymore.”
Even with concealed carry applications nearly doubling over this time four years ago, they’re still processed on a timely basis. State law requires a county sheriff’s office to issue a permit from a successful application within 45 days of receiving all necessary background documentation.
Hill said the LCSO is processing those applications fairly quickly.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at WolfeReports.
Breakout Box
Lenoir County gun permits
Jan. 1-Dec. 18
2012: 875 (44 pending)
2011: 636
2010: 605
2009: 726
2008: 643
Lenoir County concealed carry permits
Jan. 1-Dec. 18
2012: 562
2011: 406
2010: 307
2009: 356
2008: 245