Several gun stores in Central Alabama say they saw a jump in firearm and ammo sales Monday in reaction to Sunday night’s vandalism following a day of peaceful protests in downtown Birmingham.
“Everyone is making ammo runs,” said Alabama Guns and Outdoors Owner Russell England about sales Monday, a response, he says, to “(the) current state of the world.”
The store’s business was already booming, first from coronavirus, and again since nationwide protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
“It’s been all week really. It started right after the TV started putting all these riots on TV,” said Randal Murphree, who owns Murphree’s Guns in Blount County.
“Anytime there’s unrest, it seems like that’s when it happens,” he said of rising gun sales for self-defense.
Murphree recalls gun sale upticks after the election of president Bill Clinton and in reaction to various gun control battles in Congress. But this Spring, with coronavirus sales went up. “In March I sold more guns that I have in 30 years,” he said.
And now, protests sometimes turning into revolts against police-involved killings, has changed things. New gun owners, people who didn’t used to like or want guns and don’t know how to use them, are coming into his store.
“I think the destructive part is what bothers the public,” he said of the protests, adding he doesn’t see the connection between vandalism and Floyd’s death. “I think it’s terrible what happened to (Floyd), and the people who did it should pay.”
Murphree says business is so brisk he’s sold out of Glock pistols and is having a hard time getting a resupply. “Right now, it’s hard to get guns.”
Shane Thomas at Birmingham Pistol Wholesale said he’s also seen a busy Monday after Sunday night’s vandalism in downtown Birmingham.
“Folks are just coming in and as fast as you can wait on them,” he said.
It’s part of an upward trend for Thomas. His stores also saw a 40 percent increase in sales in March because of coronavirus. This week sales are doubled from two weeks ago.
He says he doesn’t get a chance to ask people about why they are purchasing guns and ammo now.
“There’s an overwhelming amount of customers so there’s not much time to talk,” he said,
But Thomas believes the sales are a reaction to Sunday night.
“I think it’s fueled by scared residents of Jefferson County,” he said.
Central Alabamians may not be alone in clamoring for weapons. Gun stocks jumped in value Monday, reflecting investors’ expectations that sales will increase nationwide.
To Murphree, the Blount County store owner, the reaction among people watching the unrest on TV is a fear instinct.
“When people get angry they do things they wouldn’t normally do,” he said of protesters.