As the rise in the confirmed coronavirus cases shows no sign of abating, many Americans are rushing to grocery stores to stock up on disinfectants, bottled water, toilet paper and food. But there's also a rising paranoia among Asian-Americans that the coronavirus will trigger a racism backlash. Along the US West Coast, where the worst cases of the virus in American soil have occurred, fears of xenophobia seemed to have created an increase in gun sales.
PR Newswire reports online ammunition retailer Ammo.com has gained more than 400 percent rise in sales of its .40 caliber pistol ammo since February 23 this year. It has also seen nearly twofold increase in AR-15 ammo sales, 105 percent increase in 9-millimeter ammo sales, and a 95 percent hike in 12 gauge shells sales. Sales of other gun calibers and ammunition have also soared.
The Washington Examiner disclosed on February 28 that "preppers" were shopping for rifles and handguns and searching for safe havens where they could hide out in case of a full-blown pandemic attack. While Target and Walmart are running out of stocks in basic necessities and "out of stock" signs are becoming ubiquitous on many online searches, the need to be prepared has also hit the ammunition business.
According to Google Trends, beginning last month, US interest over time (GT's gauge barometer) of the term "coronavirus" or "virus outbreak" has skyrocketed four-fold, rising to 100 from 20. Compared to the 10 days before February 23, Ammo.com's number of transactions rose almost 70 percent and the online retailer has enjoyed a conversation rate surge of 48 percent.
Ammo.com marketing director Alex Horsman, referring to the surge in sales, said a lot of their buyers want to be prepared. "For many of our customers, it is not just facemasks and hand sanitizers. It's knowing that no matter what happens, they can keep their families safe." The company also disclosed that the price of precious metals, like gold, has also begun to increase, which tends to correlate with a rally in the sales of bullets.
For David Lu, who is Chinese-American and is the owner of Arcadia Firearm and Safety, people are in panic because "they don't feel safe," adding that "they worry about a riot or that people will start to target the Chinese." His store had seen a 500 percent increase in sales in the last two weeks. Lu has sold out all its Glock pistols, and some buyers have requested to purchase his entire stockpile of ammunition for home defense.
