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Gun store owner sees 'a storm' of sales
Frank Gerstenkorn's gun shop in Cheyenne, Wy.
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Now that the White House has rolled out its gun control proposals and gun rights groups have started pushing back against them, there is a certain amount of waiting around that's going to happen. Congressional hearings, lobbying, ads and counter-ads.
But for some people, this is an everyday issue.
Just after Christmas, we talked to gun dealer Frank Gerstenkorn in Cheyenne, Wy., about how he sees things. We dialed him back up on this day after the president's proposals.
Gerstenkorn says business was brisk before the announcement -- but now it's a storm. He had a long line of customers this morning. His main problem now is keeping the guns his customers want to buy in-stock.
"Some of the guns that we have had come in the store never even got on the shelves. They were sold as they came through the door." But he says despite the demand, he's not going to raise his prices.
At the end of the day, Gerstenkorn says he's concerned about what the future will bring for his business but doesn't think he'll have to close his doors.
"Have we downsized in anticipation of this? Yeah, we have downsized staffing," he says. "We have the equivalent of two full-time positions that are no longer here."
Even though the last month has been busy, he expects business to slow soon, especially once he runs out of product.
I would be surprised if a small thing like a roomful of dead first graders would alter the American way of life, which is about one mass shooting per month. If we didn't have these killings from time to time it wouldn't be America.
And we all know that the citizen's right to bear assault weapons is way more important than the government's duty to protect its citizens.
And we all believe the media personalities when they yell that gun deaths are statistically comparable in all nations. The US is nothing out of the ordinary.
wow! so have more tragedies caused by 30 round clips and business gets better for the gun manufacturers? blood diamonds pale in comparison to this money making scheme. praise the lord and pass the ammunition. wonder how the ghost of Mrs Winchester is handling all this.
The people involved in the firearms business are well versed at "framing" their situation to be sympothetic. "Oh we'll have to downsize if this freedom killing law goes through", but this guy really takes the cake! So busy he can't keep the product on the shelves but already he has laid people off. Imho, the NRA is the moral equialent of the Tabacco lobby and just as dangerous.
I'm a gun owner and I use those guns for what they're historically used for: hunting and occasionally scaring off a predator (four-legged variety), so the paranoid buying frenzy leaves me dazed.
Most of those guys, when questioned, will inevitably say something about needing guns to protect them from their government, which is completely wacky. Do they seriously think their lowly AK-47 is going to protect them against drones, tanks and army snipers? The whole create-your-own armory argument is completely bonkers.
It's unclear what the point of this story is. Wyoming is crawling with gun freaks. Any time these people, who tend to be excitable and paranoid, hear the feds might tighten our pathetically lax gun regulations, they run down to their local gun shop and clear the shelves. The shop owner is delighted. The gun makers are delighted. So what? The mayhem continues. Is there any insight here that I've missed?
How disappointing, discouraging, and disgusting that this man could only comment on the number of sales he is getting and not cheating his customers. Not a word about the harm and destruction his "products" are creating, much less about the tragedies such as the one in Connecticut and others occurring far too often. He seems totally oblivious to anything but profits and sales.
