To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Lethal Lethal force Don’t Neglect The “Lesser Sellers” he race is still on to acquire “black rifles” and hordes of ammo, but, in the meantime, other retail gun buying goes on. At Scheels Gun Shop, an enclave within Sheels All Sports in Cedar Falls, Iowa, one customer is happily filling out an FFL for a Springfield Armory XD pistol, another is looking almost feverishly for an AR-15, and a third is at the reloading supplies corner preparing to stock up substantially. And, almost unnoticed, Al Carstensen appreciatively examines a little CZ side-by-side, 20-gauge double, bringing it to his shoulder and swinging it on an imaginary bird. Today, he’s not in the market for the guns every other customer seems to be chasing. It has occurred to him that he may be missing some gun fun by not taking advantage of the excellent bird hunting here in the heartland, making the sweet-handling, little traditional double worthy of his attention. Carstensen is not, by any means, the only gun shop customer to be looking at guns other than the ones consumers are concerned will be banned. Massad Ayoob T Al Carstensen checks out a neat little CZ 20-gauge double at Scheels in Cedar Falls, Iowa. he mainstream media is running stories about the rush on guns and ammo. Typical is: “Sales of Guns, Ammo Still High,” by staff outdoors writer Kelly Bostian of the Tulsa World, appearing in the March 13, 2009, edition. Bostian harkened back to the buying frenzy that preceded the Clinton Assault Weapon Ban (AWB) and noted, “The previous jump in sales pales in comparison to what’s happening now.” However, some parallel trends are receiving less notice. Certainly, the big sellers are AR-15-type rifles, semiautomatic AK clones, semiauto pistols with double-stack magazines, and “service caliber” ammo in both rifle and pistol calibers, ball and more expensive defense loads. Yet other guns are selling well, too. 1911 pistols, even in the single-stack, traditional style, are moving briskly. So are small-frame, snub-nose, concealed-carry revolvers. These have always been staples of the defensive side of firearms retailing, but the President’s opposition to concealed carry has convinced a great many fence sitters to apply for concealed-carry permits. In her article, Bostian wrote, “The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation pulled in additional help (in February 2009) so it could process concealed-carry permit applications within the required 90 days, according to the supervisor of the self-defense T Looking To Concealed Carry licensing unit. Unit workers do not release their names.” Bostian reported that the unit’s 87.2-percent increase was only partly accounted for by a large cycle of existing permits coming due for renewal. In Florida, a similar backup situation exists for CCW permit requests, but in larger volume. Dealers across the country have reported a virtual drought of .380 pistols and .380 ammunition. Some commentators outside the industry don’t quite seem to get that, since the humble .380 doesn’t fit their stereotype of “assault weapons” that might soon be prohibited. Dealers, with their fingers on the pulse of their buyers, do understand. The sale of .380s were going up before most of the public thought there was any real chance of President Obama winning the election. The introduction of the tiny Ruger LCP, and the subsequent reinvigoration of sales of the Kel-Tec P3AT, had already created hot demand for small .380s in the armed-citizen market. .380 Sales Explanations Don’t overlook offering your customers highly reliable firearms like the Mossberg 930 SPX 12 gauge and the Taurus Model 82 in .38 Special+P. 18 JULY 2009 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com