Pierce County gun sellers bracing for big business in tumultuous times
Pierce County gun sellers are preparing for an increase in firearm sales following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump and the election of Joe Biden to replace him.
Gun sellers said some people are concerned about their personal safety after incidents like the Washington D.C. mob and this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests across the nation.
Hundreds of Trump’s supporters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol building after a rally at the White House on Wednesday, postponing Congress’ certification of President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Lawmakers, staffers and journalists were ushered to secure locations as protesters broke into congressional offices, defaced statues and looted items.
Pistol Annie’s Jewelry & Pawn in Bonney Lake is gearing up for an increase in people seeking guns, owner Melissa Denny said this week.
“We are absolutely going to see a surge,” Denny said. “People feel they need to protect themselves from that element of people who have lost their concern for their fellow mankind. It’s us versus them. Somewhere along the lines, people have lost the ability to revere human life.”
The storming of the Capitol will only increase sales in an already profitable time. Denny said 2020 brought new customers daily.
“People come in every day saying, ‘Never owned a gun, and never wanted one,’ because they felt safe in the country, but now they feel very vulnerable,” she said.
The Brookings Institution, a progressive think tank, said that 2020 was a historical year for gun sales after the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests.
“Our estimates indicate that almost three million more firearms have been sold since March than would have ordinarily been sold during these months,” the July report said.
Jason Chudy, a spokesperson for the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said there are increases in firearms sales.
“We do understand, however, that increases in legal firearms sales often occur with major incidents/changes in administrations although that doesn’t necessarily correlate with the criminal use of having these firearms,” he said in an email.
Of the 6,634,064 registered firearms in the country, 2.1 percent are in Washington, according to 2019 data from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The bureau does not track individual firearms sales, nor the associated statistics relating to the sales.
Tax revenues collected from firearms sales increased from $22,972,000 in 2017 to $37,285,000 in 2019, according to the data.
Tacoma gunsmith Bill Tammaro said he anticipates an increase in sales after the siege of the Capitol. Within the last year, a lot of customers have brought in guns to Bolle & Tammaro Gunsmithing that haven’t been used in years to be refurbished.
“It’s not a scientific guess, but I’d say, yeah, I expect future uptick in coming work,” Tammaro said.
He said people want to defend themselves with recent Black Lives Matter protests, the initial fear of the pandemic and the tumultuous presidential election.
“People don’t feel safe right now,” Tammaro said.
Denny said she will be lobbying the state Legislature to protect gun rights this session. Denny believes law-abiding citizens deserve to protect themselves. She said D.C. was a “tiny dose” of what unrest cities have been seeing for months.
“This whole climate of not having police protection and no consequence and this political platform of defund police and Black Lives Matter, it is becoming a Wild West,” she said.
Tacoma’s Surplus Ammo & Arms’ manager Bruce Smith said he doesn’t think the surge will be due to Wednesday but rather to the change in majority parties in Congress and the White House.
“We anticipate them talking about gun control, and that’s going to make people buy more than anything going on today,” he told The News Tribune on Wednesday.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
