Area gun store owners are hundreds of miles from the gun control debate that’s going on in Washington where on Wednesday Republican President Donald Trump called for “quick and substantial” changes to the nation’s gun laws, rejecting his party’s incremental approach and its strategy that has stalled action on gun legislation.
But that doesn’t mean they’re not keeping a keen eye on the heated battle that’s arisen following the slaughter of 17 people at a Florida high school on Feb. 14.
Most indicate they have no problem if the government puts a ban on the bump stock device that was used in an Oct. 1 massacre of 58 people during an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. After all, most don’t even carry the device since there is little demand for it.
However, all those The Tribune spoke with Thursday believe the government should do a better job enforcing existing laws before considering changes they believe could erode Second Amendment rights to bear arms.
“There is a problem,” said Tim Stickel, manager of the Femme Fatale Guns & Sporting store in South Bend. “Nobody wants to see what happened two weeks ago happen again.”
Stickel said he would like to see more done on the prevention side, whether it’s paying for mental health issues or improving the federal database that’s used to determine if someone is eligible to purchase a weapon.
The same thought was echoed by the manager of ZX Gun in Goshen.
Femme Fatale, ZX Gun and Midwest Gun Exchange in Mishawaka indicate most of their customers purchase a weapon for protection. The remainder purchase a firearm for hunting, plinking or competitive shooting.
Managers at each of the stores said that every firearm purchase — new and used — is run through the federal database. They also are permitted and exercise to reject the sale of a firearm to someone who smells of alcohol or marijuana or perhaps is acting erratically.
“If it doesn’t pass the sniff test,” Stickel said, “we do not proceed.”