CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Firearms are flying off the shelves.
Local gun expert Larry Hyatt, of Hyatt Gun Shop, said his team has been running background checks by the hundreds this big holiday shopping weekend.
[STATS: Firearm background check]
“The crowds are huge, telephones are ringing. It’s crazy,” Hyatt said. “Hundreds and hundreds of applications have gone out the last few days.”
[MORE COVERAGE: FBI fields more than 200,000 gun checks, single-day record, on Black Friday]
The FBI has been flooded with background check requests.
Newly released data shows the FBI received 203,085 background check requests from across the country for gun purchases just on Black Friday.
It was a new single-day record compared to the 185,713 on the same day last year, close to a 10 percent increase.
“The election put a big surprise in the gun industry last year and there was some overproduction. Companies are giving rebates to sell these items,” Hyatt said.
Self-defense is one of the top reasons Hyatt said he is seeing more shoppers at his store, primarily women and the elderly. He agrees recent mass shootings have also sparked people to want to purchase.
“Fear of crime, fear of terrorism are big drivers of gun sales,” Hyatt said.
Channel 9 got to see the system gun shops use that’s connected to the FBI to run background checks. Just in a matter of minutes, a shop will know if a person’s application is approved, denied or placed on a delay requiring further verification.
“The system is set up to stop unauthorized people from getting firearms. It’s not perfect, but overall it works pretty well,” Hyatt said. “The biggest impediment we have today is if some small town or jurisdiction doesn’t put their data in the system.”
Hyatt said none of the applications they have submitted through the FBI have been denied. There have been a few applications that have been delayed pending further verification. The number of background checks doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the number of guns that have been sold.
Judy Williams, co-founder of Mothers of Murdered Offspring, said that as a previous gun owner, the spike is still concerning to her. She fears guns may not be properly locked or stored.
“It’s the criminals that are going to get the guns and use them illegally,” Williams said. “Usually people who apply for them the right way are not going to go shoot anybody.”
Hyatt said different types of guns have different requirements. Handguns, for example, require a permit from the Sheriff’s Office, which may take several weeks to get approved.