As one should unfortunately come to expect in times like these when residing in the United States, sales of guns and survival gear (and related tomfoolery) have spiked enough to warrant a swath of headlines.
For example, Jacob Long of Widener's Reloading and Shooting Supply—an online shop offering supplies of the reloading and shooting variety, presumably—recently claimed in a chat with NRA-affiliated publication American Rifleman that the company had sold "twice as much ammo" during the Feb. 23-25 sales period than during the same period in 2019.
"For a lot of our families, a disaster plan includes having ammo on hand," Long said.
Elsewhere, some who happen to be into guns and MRE's (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) and whatnot have also started to panic-buy. A shop in Fayetteville, North Carolina claimed to have experienced a "record sales month" in February, while over in California—per a KTVU report—gun and ammo sales are said to be as much as five times above the usual rate.
"Any time people are uneasy, sales go up, and it's always the same, guns and ammo," Sportman's Arms owner Gabriel Vaughn told reporters. The same report also highlights the fact that many gun buyers amid national events of concern are first-time owners.
A BuzzFeed News report throws out an even more dramatic figure with regards to tactical gear, citing Bulletproof Zone owner Kevin Lim as stating sales for the retailer were up between 50 and 100 percent since COVID-19 concerns started taking hold.
For the CDC's COVID-19 containment guide, which does not include any co-signs of gun purchasing, click here.
