Spike in gun sales driven by political and physical fear

CHAATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF) – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives just put out new data that shows more people across the U.S. are purchasing guns.

News 12 spoke to ATF spokesperson Michael Knight who released gun sale statistics from 1986 to 2014.

“The number of firearm sales; either through firearm licensees or through third party sales or individual sales, are on the rise. This is indicative of just the nature of society today,” Knight said.

The current political landscape is part of the reason why sales have increased. Throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, the total number of guns sold averaged between three and four million. When President Obama took office in 2008, the average number of guns sold skyrocketed to between five and 10 million. According to experts, sales continue to increase as long as some politicians continue to argue that Obama and Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton want to take people’s guns away.

“Social demographics always play a role in either the rise or decline of firearm sales. In this particular case, There has been a lot of discussion and dialog on the landscape of this country that has increased the number of sales in firearms,” Knight said.

The other factor weighing in on gun sales is fear of terror attacks and fear of being assaulted on the streets by violent criminals. Physical fear is driving up sales in handguns.

“One of the most popular firearms are the handguns. This is mainly because of the personal safety aspect for the individual, but there is a wide variety of of not only handguns and pistols but also rifles that are purchased not only through Federal firearm places but also through third party sales,” Knight said.

In addition to legal firearm sales, the fed’s are also noticing a significant increase in illegal sales where guns are being secretly sold to people who are convicted felons.