From Pandemic to Politics, Local Gun Sales Are Skyrocketing

This year has been a whirlwind of a year with COVID-19, wildfires and most recently, the presidential election – all reasons why gun sales in Lane County are skyrocketing.

Oregon State Police has seen a surge in background check requests for those who wish to purchase firearms this year.

Gun store owners say they have seen the increase with sales, as some people may fear lawmakers might pass new gun restrictions.

“If we can hold the senate and congress, no – because they won’t have the power to do it; but lose either one of those and you got a problem,” said Raye Gunter, owner of the Emerald Valley Armory in Creswell.

He talked with us Wednesday about seeing gun sales on the rise from many events this year, especially since after the election.

“We saw a little bit with the Covid,” Gunter said. Then the George Floyd thing and the Black Lives Matter riots and all that, we saw a spike. Then that started to die down, and then it was ‘defund the police’ and it spiked again. Then that started to die down. Then they announced Kamala Harris as VP, then there was another spike. That was the biggest spike.”

But regardless of your political stance, it’s not just Lane County; gun sales are up all over Oregon. Earlier this year, Oregon State Police conducted over 40,000 background checks from late February to late March, according to their public database.

And now, Gunter says he’s seen a rise with not only returning customers but with new customers.

He says the only issue is making sure they’re getting the proper training before purchasing their gun of choice, and says Emerald Valley Armory offers training once a month.