A shooter takes aim at a target at the Shore Shot Pistol Range in Lakewood on March 5. Many gun stores have seen a spike in business in response to gun control discussion that is occurring at the federal level. ERIC SUCAR staff It has been a busy couple of months for Bill Sherman and his business in Lakewood. Thanks to a major discussion on gun control taking root at the federal level, gun aficionados and newcomers alike have been applying for firearm licenses and flocking to gun stores like Sherman’s Shore Shot Pistol Range in droves.
So many people are in Sherman’s store that neither he nor any of the other employees out on the floor can pick up the phone, which has been ringing nonstop.
Finishing up a transaction, Bill Sherman reaches behind the counter and grabs the item for which his customer has been waiting for months: a new AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
In a large room adjacent to the store, nearly every lane at an indoor firing range has shooters of varying ages and experience levels firing off rounds at paper targets, creating a cacophony of “pops.” Rangemaster Joe Delconzo is standing behind a novice shooter, calmly giving pointers on his form and discussing the finer points of pistol ammunition.
Bill Sherman, owner of the Shore Shot Pistol Range, Lakewood, has noticed that sales increase when the government considers banning certain firearms or magazine capacity. ERIC SUCAR staff “Firinga9mmroundislikedrivinga Maserati,” Delconzo tells the shooter. “While a .45 ACP round is more like driving a truck.”
It’s just another busy Tuesday morning at the Shore Shot Pistol Range in Lakewood, and the store is booming.
Literally.
“I always wanted to get [an AR-15- styled rifle] and I figured that now is the time. If I don’t do it now, I might never get the chance again,” Greg Forrest, of Howell, said.
With the muffled report of the gun range behind him, he was smiling as he cradled his new LWRC M6A2 carbine rifle under his arm.
Forrest is just one of thousands of local residents seeking to arm themselves after federal legislators began discussing a possible reinstatement of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Attention to the issue has reached such a feverish pitch that production of weapons, parts, ammunition and other firearm necessities cannot catch up to demand.
“It’s just like when Hostess was going out of business, you had women and children fighting over Twinkies,” Bill Sherman said. “[Once] the government talks about banning certain firearms or magazine capacity, people begin buying everything up.”
At the federal level, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard four proposed bills earlier this month that would address key issues surrounding guns in the country. The bills would make gun trafficking a felony; expand background checks at gun shows and private sales; boost spending on school safety programs; and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
In New Jersey, which has had an assault weapons ban and a magazine-capacity cap of 15 rounds since 1990, the state Assembly has introduced several gun-control bills this year. One would require a professional mental health screening as part of the background check procedure for gun purchases; another would require purchases of ammunition to be made in person. The bill package would also lower the magazine-ammunition cap from 10 rounds to five.
The recent fervor behind gun control has also begun taking a toll on local police departments, since they handle all applications for Firearm Identification Cards (FIDs) and permits to purchase a handgun. According to state law, residents are required to apply for a purchase permit for each handgun. Rifles and shotguns do not require a separate permit.
Once approved, a prospective gun owner has 90 days to purchase the handgun before the permit expires.
Capt. Richard Wagner of the Jackson Township Police Department, Ocean County, said pending applications are taking longer than normal to process due to the number received in recent months.
“The volume of permit applications has created delays, as clerical staff have other duties to attend to also,” police Lt. Steven Laskiewicz said.
Jackson received 817 handgun permit applications during 2012, but 333 of those were from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2012, according to Laskiewicz. In comparison, the department received 148 applications from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011.
So far this year, Jackson has received approximately 200 applications.
“[We have] also had to reassign detectives from other details at times to assist with the background [checks] when there was a large backlog of applications,” Laskiewicz said.
Other departments in the region also reported an increase in handgun permit applications.
The Woodbridge Township Police Department in Middlesex County handled 211 applications from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011. During the same period in 2012, it processed 481, according to Capt. Roy Hoppock. Through March 8 of this year, it had received 322 permit applications.
In Aberdeen Township, Monmouth County, the police department processed 36 handgun applications from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011. For the entirety of 2012, it processed 141 applications. In the small borough of Allentown, also Monmouth County, 64 applications have been handled by the police so far in 2013.
Interest in gun ownership has spiked at various times, such as during President Barack Obama’s re-election bid last year and following the Dec. 14 shooting rampage that left 20 students and six staff members dead at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
According to Sherman’s son, Kyle, the events of superstorm Sandy may also have influenced the increase in applications.
“[In terms of first-time buyers], a lot of people that we’re dealing with right now are people that lived through Sandy, got stuck in their house with no power and no way for police to come, and were scared of looters,” Kyle said.
Due to the influx of applications, wait times for permits have ballooned. What would normally take 30 days may now stretch upwards of three to six months in some municipalities.
“The problem is that the state is taking seven to 14 days to do an instant background check,” Bill said. “It’s not instant.”