As RF recounted back in September, former contributor Dan Baum’s contention is that the US firearms industry is demographically doomed. Old Fat White Guys will be dying off with with too few interested in backfilling the following cohorts as gun owners. Or something. Except that, if you frequent the Intertubes at all, state after state is reporting ever-increasing sales and NICS check volumes continue to rise. The latest example: Maine. As bangordailynews.com details, due to the relentless volume, the state’s background checking gnomes can’t seem keep up to a state mandated thirty day turn-around time for concealed carry licenses . . .
No matter how quickly the state’s little gerbils spin their wheels, applicants are waiting anywhere from six to twelve weeks for a response.
Maine towns and cities that handle their own applications for permits to carry concealed handguns are telling permit seekers they should expect to wait more than 30 days.
In Auburn, the wait is averaging around six weeks; in Lewiston, applicants are told it can take as long as 12 weeks.
As more people buy handguns, more gun owners are applying for permits.
Gun dealers say demand for handguns has shot up.
What’s not to love? Other than the delay, of course.
“Sales have been very good,” said Jamie Pelletier, manager of Reid’s Guns and Cigars in Auburn.
At G3 Firearms in Turner, handgun sales have doubled over the past year, owner Chris Jordan said.
Enrollment at firearm-safety courses has kept pace with brisk sales. Pelletier said every class offered by the shop has been full.
Paul Mattson, a National Rifle Association certified firearms instructor in Harrison, said he has seen demand for his course in personal protection climb by nearly one-third over the past three years.
Dan and other deniers will dismiss the Maine examples as nothing more than anecdotal. But no matter how loudly they cover their ears and whistle past the graveyard of gun controllers’ dreams, those dreams continue to be deep sixed at an alarming rate.