EAST LYME, CT (WFSB) -
Two shops in southeast Connecticut told Eyewitness News that they've been doing double and triple the volume in sales of guns and ammo for weeks.
The owners said they are not attributing the increased gun sales to the school shooting in Newtown, but rather the threat of losing the right to own firearms.
The manager of the Montville Gun Store told Eyewitness News that sales of a variety of guns as well as ammunition is up 200 to 300 percent this past month compared to the same period last year.
"We've seen newer faces," said Montville Gun Store Manager Nick Santiago. "Mostly, you're still seeing the same people that now realize they might not be able to do it anymore. But definitely getting new customers who are realizing, now we've been wanting to do this for a long time."
Nationwide, in October of 2012, the FBI performed 1.6 million background checks on gun purchases. The number of background checks soared to 2.8 million in December.
At Ron's Guns in East Lyme, owner Ron Rando said customers want to protect their rights and his sales have more than doubled.
"We have huge amount of people applying," he said. "They want to apply for pistol permits."
Ammunition sales are also up, but one local private gun range said that's because more people are taking their new purchases and practicing at the range.
"If you take rights away, people are going to do the opposite," said gun owner James Perkins.
Owners at both gun shops told Eyewitness News they see new customers coming in with the mix being a split of men and women.
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