Obama win spurs gun purchases
Carl Geist was taking a break on Saturday at the Wanenmacher's Tulsa Arms Show by reading David McCullough's "1776," which tells the story of the beginning of the American Revolution. Sitting in the food court at Expo Square's QuikTrip Center, Geist said the colonists broke with Great Britain primarily because the British overtaxed and attempted to disarm them. Some 232 years have passed since then, but many attending the biannual gun show, which concludes with a session from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, seemed to have similar worries. While no one was comparing President-elect Barack Obama to King George III, there was a feeling that firearms may be harder to come by during the upcoming administration. Joe Wanenmacher, manager of the show, said the event usually draws about 30,000 people, but he expects closer to 35,000 at this weekend's edition — print advertisements for which say "Buy Before New Laws." "It's a little larger this year," Wanenmacher said. "People are concerned about the results of the election." One would have thought Saturday that the Tulsa State Fair was back in town. The parking lots at Expo Square were packed with vehicles brandishing license plates not only from Oklahoma and contiguous states, but also from places such as Nevada, Minnesota and Alabama. As one man made his way toward the gate, he told someone on his cell phone, "He asked me, 'You think they're going to ban this stuff?' I said they might." The phenomenon is not unique to this area. The Associated Press reported late last week that in October, as an Obama win looked increasingly likely, there were more than 108,000 additional background checks for gun purchases than in October 2007, a 15 percent increase. Those checks were up about 8 percent for the year as of Oct. 26, according to the FBI. snip http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20081109_11_A3_Gunent434988
Carl Geist was taking a break on Saturday at the Wanenmacher's Tulsa Arms Show by reading David McCullough's "1776," which tells the story of the beginning of the American Revolution. Sitting in the food court at Expo Square's QuikTrip Center, Geist said the colonists broke with Great Britain primarily because the British overtaxed and attempted to disarm them. Some 232 years have passed since then, but many attending the biannual gun show, which concludes with a session from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, seemed to have similar worries. While no one was comparing President-elect Barack Obama to King George III, there was a feeling that firearms may be harder to come by during the upcoming administration. Joe Wanenmacher, manager of the show, said the event usually draws about 30,000 people, but he expects closer to 35,000 at this weekend's edition — print advertisements for which say "Buy Before New Laws." "It's a little larger this year," Wanenmacher said. "People are concerned about the results of the election." One would have thought Saturday that the Tulsa State Fair was back in town. The parking lots at Expo Square were packed with vehicles brandishing license plates not only from Oklahoma and contiguous states, but also from places such as Nevada, Minnesota and Alabama. As one man made his way toward the gate, he told someone on his cell phone, "He asked me, 'You think they're going to ban this stuff?' I said they might." The phenomenon is not unique to this area. The Associated Press reported late last week that in October, as an Obama win looked increasingly likely, there were more than 108,000 additional background checks for gun purchases than in October 2007, a 15 percent increase. Those checks were up about 8 percent for the year as of Oct. 26, according to the FBI. snip http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20081109_11_A3_Gunent434988
