Gun sales, carry permits on rise in Iowa

• 25,941 Background checks conducted in Iowa in December 2015
• 867 Gun permit applications in Polk County from Dec. 27 to Jan. 7

Iowans looking to purchase a gun may have to be patient: Gun dealers and sheriff's departments around the state say they're seeing an influx in sales and applications for permits.

In Polk County, the sheriff's department saw about 1,000 more gun carry permit applications than usual last month. And in Scott County, residents are waiting two to three weeks longer than normal for permits.

Moreover, several gun dealers interviewed by The Des Moines Register say their sales have been on the rise since the end of November, with store purchases increasing by 10 percent to 30 percent.

Indeed, according to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, Iowa had more firearm background checks conducted in December 2015 than any other month last year. There were 25,941 background checks in December, compared with 7,000 to 17,000 every other month.

Law enforcement officials and store managers list several reasons for Iowa's rising interest in gun ownership.

Some people buying guns are telling store employees it's because of President Barack Obama's executive action on gun control. Other customers say it's because they want to protect themselves from local crime or highly publicized mass shootings, such as the recent San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack, store managers said.

Adding to the influx, sheriff's department officials across Iowa say, is a 2011 state law that let Iowans apply for the first time for a five-year carry permit, meaning those permits start coming up for renewal this year. In 2011, the state issued 101,518 permits, about double its regular number of applications.

Gun permits spiking

The Scott County Sheriff's Office is usually able to issue same-day gun carry permits, but the influx in applications has people waiting two or three weeks to get their permit, said Chief Deputy Thomas Gibbs.

While the beginning of every year tends to be busiest for gun permits, this year seems particularly busy, most likely because of the glut of five-year renewals, he said.

The county requires applicants to list their purpose for a gun permit, and most select "personal protection," he said.

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Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew believes the influx is the result of rising safety concerns following high-profile gun crimes, such as the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris.

"After some major incident, people talk about their own safety," Drew said. "And with social media, it only drives rumors and innuendos. Even before the president's spiel, I think the spikes had a lot to do with these attacks."

Drew said that before Christmas, phones were ringing constantly as callers inquired about their safety.

The county recently had one of the highest spikes in gun permit applications it has seen in years. In December, 133 people applied for new permits, compared with the 65 new applications a month the office saw the rest of the year.

Worried for their safety

Polk County sheriff's officials had more than 1,400 gun permit applications in December, compared with the 400 the office usually sees — and most were new, Sgt. Brandon Bracelin said.

"I've heard from staff that are issuing permits that people have been talking about things happening around the world … like Paris and San Bernardino," Bracelin said.

The sheriff's office posted an alert to its Facebook page Jan. 7 noting the high volume of gun permit applications and assuring permit seekers they would receive notification of whether their permit was accepted within 30 days.

The county received 378 applications between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2, and another 489 applications the week of Jan. 3 through Jan. 7.

It won't be clear how many of those were new or renewals until the end of the month, Bracelin said.

In rural Montgomery County, the sheriff's office received 36 permit applications in a recent week, seven more than the week before, which Sheriff Joe Sampson credited to renewals of five-year permits.

Gun sales 'brisk'

Gun dealers say they've seen an uptick in sales beyond the usual holiday season increase.

"I've been surprised that it has not dropped off since the holidays. Our gun sales have continued to be brisk," said Tom Hudson, manager at CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston. He said his number of new customers quadrupled last month.

Royal Nahno-Kerchee, training coordinator at Rangemasters shooting range and gun shop in Clive, estimated his business' gun sales increased 10 percent or 15 percent in the week after Obama's recent gun control speech.

Obama said he would take executive action to require background checks for prospective buyers of what he believes are some of the most dangerous weapons. He also pledged to step up enforcement of existing gun laws, remove unnecessary legal barriers preventing sharing of information about people who should not possess a gun because of mental illness, and expand research into gun safety technology.

After the San Bernardino mass shooting, Rangemasters' gun sales increased about 30 percent, Nahno-Kerchee said.

The business has been staffing its store with extra employees since Thanksgiving to keep up with the demand, he said.

'Running low on guns'

American Brothers in Arms, a gun shop in Sioux City, has seen a sales increase of 20 percent to 25 percent from the same time last year to this year, said Chase Cejka, store co-owner.

"We are running low on guns. We're selling them faster than we can get them," Cejka said.

Cejka said many of his customers cite Obama's views on gun control as a reason for purchasing their first gun or adding to their collection.

"We've sold guns to people who say if (Obama) wasn't on TV talking about it, they wouldn't be buying guns," he said.

But Hudson said he's seen more customers wanting to protect themselves, some with concerns about domestic terrorism.

“They’re more worried about (terrorism) than that they won’t be able to buy guns anymore,” he said.

The threat of local crime is also a concern among customers, Nahno-Kerchee said. "More and more people, I feel, they want to use (guns) for protection to make sure that their families are safe."

Hudson and Nahno-Kerchee both said their businesses have also seen an increased interest in the shooting classes they offer.

Shooting classes sold out

CrossRoads Shooting Sports, which offers classes four to six times a month, with 12 to 18 students per class, has a waiting list into February and March, Hudson said.

"We're selling out classes before we can advertise them," he said.

Among those signing up for classes are Elizabeth Luong, 23, of Ames, and Terrynn Robertson, 24, of Ankeny. The two women were taking an hour-long first-time shooter's class at Rangemasters last week.

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Robertson said she grew up around guns with friends who hunt, and she'd always wanted to own a gun and learn how to shoot. But for Luong, safety concerns and some of what she's heard in the news played a factor in her taking the class — though she still wasn't sure whether she wanted to own a firearm.

"I think it's safer to know how to handle a gun than to not know how to handle a gun," Luong said during her class. "… Everything in the media has influenced me a little bit. There's a possibility that (guns) could become a lot harder to get."