By Scott Buttram
On Highway 11 in Trussville, traffic was backed up and moving only in stops and starts as customers tried to pull into the packed parking lot of Birmingham Pistol Wholesalers.
Two customers, who did not want to give their names, were gun shopping for different reasons. Though, both shoppers seemed to be motivated by the tragic school shootings in Connecticut last Friday morning.
“Last Friday was a wake up call for me,” said a man who lives in Pinson. “I’ll probably never have a reason to fire this gun, but I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I just want to have the means to protect my family and myself if the need arises.”
The middle-aged man in a pickup truck with a DeKalb County tag had another reason for visiting the gun store.
“The government is going to outlaw guns,” the man said. “We all know it’s coming. I’ve been planning to buy an AR (assault rifle) for two years. I figure it’s now or never. I’m going home with one if they’ve got it.”
On the other end of Highway 11, near The Pinnacle, Southeastern Guns was also seeing heavy traffic from customers. Cars maneuvered around each other negotiating a tight parking lot with too few parking spaces. Inside the store, there were a dozen or more customers checking out the merchandise and waiting their turn to make a purchase.
“We’ve been busy for a month,” owner Mike Davenport said as he looked over a showroom full of customers
. “But it’s different today. You can just tell it’s different.”
Davenport said the Christmas season has kept the store busy, primarily selling small handguns for personal protection and gift items.
“Today, you can’t buy an AR,” Davenport said. “I can pick up the phone and call anywhere, but they aren’t going to have an AR in stock. Everything on the market sold out Friday and Saturday.”
When asked if customers were concerned with personal protection or the threat of gun control laws, Davenport shrugged. “Obviously, it’s some of both.”