The number one gun seller strikes again.
President Barack Obama had hardly closed his emotional Tuesday address outlining executive actions on gun control before Santa Cruz Armory was bustling.
“Literally five minutes after he finished talking, my store was packed,” said Nolan Sands, general manager of the Scotts Valley firearms retailer. “The direct relation as to when he talks and us getting busy is impeccable.”
Tuesday’s surge comes after what Santa Cruz County gun dealers unanimously agree have been weeks of exceptional sales, mirroring a national uptick after the Dec. 2 San Bernardino attack.
In December, the FBI processed more than 3.3 million firearm sales background checks compared to about 2.3 million from December 2014. That differential, more a million with the exact numbers, is unprecedented in data going back to 1998. Exact numbers for Santa Cruz County gun sales were not immediately available, but Sands characterized his sales as having doubled since the San Bernardino attack.
Markley’s Indoor Range & Gun similarly has seen a “big uptick” in the past month, said Paul Cunningham, a salesperson at the storefront and shooting range outside Watsonville. But Cunningham said it has been policy, not safety, that has driven the customers he has seen.
“Obama is our No. 1 gun salesman,” Cunningham said. “He’s been the salesman of the year for the last eight years.”
Lee Ewing, owner of Pacific Military Arms and Service, an appointment-based gun retailer in Scotts Valley, said he has seen his sales go up “big time” in the same period.
“The first-time folks coming in and saying ‘I think I need to get a gun now.’ The next line out of their mouth is ‘because the government is not going to allow me to buy this later,’” Ewing said. “A huge percentage of it is driven by politicians.”