Gun and ammo sales soar in Manatee County as more are found with novel coronavirus

The news on the coronavirus appears to change by the hour at times and as state and local officials make new decisions on closures and recommendations almost daily, the pandemic and its effects have people on edge.

It appears when people get nervous, they get armed. as guns and ammunition sales skyrocket across the area.

“We certainly don’t ask them why they are buying a gun, but there is a sense from our customers that they are nervous about a potential lockdown and want to protect their families and property,” said Craig Yingling manager of ASAP Gun and Pawn in Ellenton.

Yingling said he saw a spike in sales begin last weekend and those sales have steadily increased to the point where keeping ammo on the shelves is becoming a struggle.

“We usually see a spike in sales just about every election year and people start buying up all the AR-15 rifles because there is always some politician talking about banning them,” Yingling said. “But this is different. This time, people are buying up all the handguns first. Now they are buying the rifles because we don’t have many handguns left.”

Yingling said he sold upwards of 90 handguns last week alone. He has three glass cases normally packed with handguns side by side. On Tuesday, some of the shelves were completely empty. As for the ammo, Yingling said he just can’t keep it stocked.

“We carry every caliber you can think of,” he said. “I pulled out 50 boxes of .227 yesterday and they were gone in an hour. Before this started, I had 100 boxes of 9mm and they didn’t make it through the weekend.”

Yingling said he’s put in new orders and would typically have new stock in within a day or two. But with shipping companies being overwhelmed with online orders from people staying home and sheltering in place, “I just can’t say when we’ll get more.”

Other shops, employees of which did not want to speak on record, were experiencing the same issues and described a similar timing on the spike in sales.

One gun store simply posted a sign on its door that read, “We have some ammo in stock,” but they were only taking appointments by phone.

JM Gun Repair Inc., off of Whitfield Avenue in Sarasota, had a recent shipment come in, but it wasn’t going to last. They were restricting sales to two boxes of ammo per customer. They wanted to try and serve as many customers as possible and there were a steady stream of them coming through the door on Tuesday.

Maryanne, who declined to give her last name, was patiently, but exhaustively trying to help the flow of customers coming inside the family-owned business.

“Sales are through the roof,” Maryanne said. “But everyone has been very patient because we are all in this together and we are all doing what we can to get through this. The biggest thing right now is, don’t panic, people.”

Yingling said he’s seen his fair share of first-time gun buyers come into his business in recent days, but most of the ammo sales are to existing gun owners.

“I’d rather have one gun with 10,000 rounds than 10,000 guns and no ammo,” Yingling said. “So it makes sense.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.