Local gun sales boom under Obama

It seems happiness is a warm gun for some, as Sherwood’s Tri-County Gun Club membership grows dramatically with some citing new presidential administration as a cause

By Nick Peterson And Stover E. Harger Iii

The Forest Grove News-Times, Oct 14, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jaime Valdez / Pamplin Media Group

The Tri-County Gun Club has a number of outdoor and indoor shooting ranges on its 230-acre property near Sherwood. George Pitts, the club’s public information officer, says that membership in the club has grown an average of 70 members a month in the past year. He attributes it, at least in part, to anxiety over politics and gun laws.

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Barack Obama may have secured the Nobel Peace Prize last week, but a fair number of the region’s residents seem to be prepping for chaos. By grabbing their guns.

The Tri-County Gun Club in Sherwood has picked up an average of 70 new members a month through most of this year, according to George Pitts, Tri-County’s public information officer. The credit for that spike in membership falls on the Obama administration, Pitts says.

“We took in 77 new members this month,” Pitts said on a sunny afternoon last April, as sporadic gunfire echoed through the grounds of the 230-acre club nestled in the hills between Tualatin and Sherwood. “Since Obama’s become president, membership has just grown like crazy.”

Last week Pitts said the inflow of new members hasn’t slowed down throughout the year. Membership is right around 4,000.

“I think this last month we took in 55 or 60 new members, but that’s probably the lowest this year,” he said. Typically, before the 2008 presidential election, the club would gain around 30 new members a month.

So, the Obama administration worries gun owners?

“I think there’s an aspect to that,” Pitts said. “I think the political concerns are pretty fresh in everybody’s minds. They don’t know where this administration is going.”

Many gun owners are “hunkering down,” according to Pitts.

“I think there’s a real concern there. People are doing two things: One, they’re personally stockpiling. The other is, a little hoarding – thinking they can make a buck.”

Gun sales healthy

The local reaction to the Obama administration’s perceived attitude about gun control mirrors the national trend.

Smith & Wesson, one of the largest manufacturers of firearms in the United States, announced recently that their sales were up more than 30 percent from the previous year.

That was reflected in local firearm sales which have also been up, according to local gun and gun accessory dealers.

Sales of assault rifles and other types of firearms skyrocketed after Obama’s election – and despite slowing down somewhat in the last few months – business is still going strong at The Gun Broker in Tigard.

Chalk it up to fear of gun rights being taken away, but also an influx of new products on the market and concerns about home invasions in the current economy, said Gun Broker salesman Greg Apple.

“People kind of freaked out,” Apple said about the post-election rush to buy guns and ammunition. “That’s kind of mellowed down a bit.”

Dane Baumann owns Aloha Surplus, which specializes in military, camping and hunting gear. He thinks the suspicions about Obama are justified, based on the president's record and public statements on gun control issues.

Aloha Surplus does not sell guns, but its sales of ammunition and holsters have been very high.

“Where does he (the president) stand on it? Sounds like he’s anti-gun to me,” Baumann said.

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