Well, that didn’t take long.
Now the Coronavirus is being used to suspend, or allow for the suspension of gun sales. That’s correct folks. Right now, for the first time since Jim Crow, millions of Americans are straight up denied access or the ability to purchase guns. This isn’t fearmongering, in fact we watched things unfold for a couple days before preparing this article to try and get an idea of what was going on with gun sales in a rapidly changing world.
Table of Contents
So What’s Going On?
Right now at this writing multiple states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada, plus the San Francisco Bay area have all ordered the closure of “non essential” businesses. Plus, the ATF has advised FFL holders in an email that COVID-19 related government closures and slowdowns may cause longer processing time for gun purchases in states that perform their own background checks.
It gets worse. At least two major population areas in Washington State have simply stopped processing concealed pistol permit applications. Doubtless this story is playing out across the country.
Other locations, like New Orleans have included the ability to suspend gun and ammo sales (and pretty much all civil rights) in their emergency declarations. Apparently New Orleans didn’t learn from Katrina – and probably would run afoul of post Katrina era laws designed to prevent emergency gun bans from happening again.
What Does This All Mean?
It means that a great many Americans now live in constitution free zones. Thanks to a century and a half of creeping gun control laws that started out trying to disarm Reconstruction and Jim Crow era African Americans, to the irrational gun control laws of the 1920’s and 30’s, we now live in a nation with a comprehensive and patchwork system of gun registration, lengthy mandatory waiting periods, multiple redundant background checks, and a reliance on overworked, and often obsolete systems that in turn are ultimately rooted in century old ideas of how to perform a background check.
The end result is that even in normal times, a brief surge of buying is enough to break the system. But in abnormal times the system starts out broken and gets worse from there.
For FFL holders, not only are they forced to watch their customers be denied the most fundamental right of self defense, but they are also forced to watch their bottom line fade away, unless they flip a well armed middle finger to local authorities and keep selling guns.
We can’t advise you on if you should or should not defy an order to close your business. That is between you and your lawyer and any such decision should not be made lightly.
Some states, like Pennsylvania seem to be seeking a “voluntary” compliance and at this time don’t look like they have the framework or willpower to actually enforce this closure. Some Pennsylvania FFL’s have reported they are staying open, but like with all Coronavirus related matters, this changes rapidly.
The Economic Impact on FFL Holders
Gun sales have largely been booming across the nation. Between fears of civil unrest and the usual presidential election uncertainty, all major distributors are reporting they are sold out of or nearly sold out of all popular calibers of ammunition and a great many guns. In other words, if you’ve got or can get inventory, you are probably doing a very brisk business.
Unless you’ve been closed down…
Now this particular sword cuts both ways. In places like California with excessively long background checks, nobody was taking their gun purchases home that same day anyway. And with inventory depleted everywhere, this may give California FFL’s some breathing room to try and restock their stores. By the time background checks and waiting periods start ending around the Bay Area, it’s possible stores could be reopening.
Other places, not so much. For some folks there is simply no way to buy a gun from an FFL right now. And states that have both banned face to face sales and closed FFL’s, have ensured only black powder, antiques, C&R’s and illegal gun sales take place.
I suppose now we might see a worst case scenario where Civil War reenactors are the only ones with guns and ammo. On to Richmond boys!
So if you are an FFL, can get inventory and haven’t been shut down by civil rights hating governors looking to flex their anti-gun muscles, great! You probably are in for a wild, but profitable ride the next few months.
But if you have been closed down, better hope that (1) you can reopen soon or that (2) the local authorities don’t have the willpower to enforce closure on FFL’s or (3) that you’ve sold out anyway and now can take a vacation while looking for more inventory.
Small home based FFL’s may have an advantage here by simply sneaking under the radar or technically not being impacted by closings. You’ll want to check local Cornavirus closure orders and maybe with an attorney before you do anything though.
Conclusion
Every day we wake up and wonder how much worse or weirder things can get, and we are usually greeted with a cacophony of good, bad and “huh what?!” We are most likely hitting the peak of the worst economic impact, but it will be an uphill road to get back to normal.
But we are Americans and we have weathered far worse health crisis moments than this. In fact, Americans are famous for weathering crisis moments, and coming out on the other side stronger and better than before. We can do this, we just have to hunker down for a couple more weeks. Remember to keep an eye out for your neighbors – God knows the government clearly isn’t doing their job. They are too busy closing down FFL’s to think about the individual impact in some places.
The only thing we are sure of right now is that if your doors are open, you are selling guns. Let’s hope all those doors open soon!
