Proposed Ban Spurs Flurry of Gun Buying : Weapons: House vote to outlaw most semiautomatics and magazines holding more than 10 rounds is driving up prices and sales throughout the area.
Throughout Los Angeles, the rush is on as people flock to gun shops for what may be their last chance to purchase intimidating-looking weapons with high-tech names as well as high-capacity ammunition magazines for all semiautomatic weapons.
After the House of Representatives passed a bill a week ago that would bar the future manufacture, sale and possession of most semiautomatic weapons and any magazine holding more than 10 rounds, aficionados ranging from the serious gun collector to the average Joe have been hitting gun shops from the Westside to the High Desert.
“The guns on the lists have doubled (in sales),” said Laura Brunts, manager of Santa Fe Gun Galleria in Palmdale, where articles on gun control are copied and left on the counter, free for the taking. “We are selling four times as many magazines as we did before the ban.”
And prices are climbing.
At Santa Fe, AK-47 magazines with 30 rounds are going for $35, up from $19.95 last week, and prices on all semiautomatic handguns were raised $50 Wednesday morning. There was but one MAK-90 military-style rifle left in the store Wednesday, although 10 more will be shipped soon. When they arrive, Brunts said the price will jump $200, to $750.
The version of the weapons ban approved by the House is similar to one passed by the U.S. Senate in November. A conference committee must work out any differences between the two before the ban is sent to President Clinton.
The ban would outlaw 19 types of semiautomatic weapons, but in California most guns on the list already were illegal under a 5-year-old state ban, except for the Intertech-9, MAK-90 and Colt Sporter--the civilian version of the M-16--and their copies.
Bob Lesmeister, director of the National Assn. of Federally Licensed Firearm Dealers--which represents 30,000 gun store owners nationwide--said sales on the West Coast have doubled, while Midwest gun shop owners are seeing their sales triple.
“Most of the guns on the list were already in short demand,” Lesmeister said. “I think as the shortage gets worse, the demand gets great, as it gets closer to becoming law.”
During lunch hour Wednesday, business was booming at Gun Heaven off Fairfax Avenue.
David M. Bell, an investment manager for a firm in Downtown Los Angeles, stopped in to purchase a semiautomatic pistol, a Colt Sporter rifle and a semiautomatic shotgun--all of them slated for banning under the federal law because of their large-magazine capacities.
“I’m not a hothead,” said Bell, who shelled out about $7,000 for the guns. “I’m not a white supremacist. I don’t think we need to hoard guns for the oncoming apocalypse.
“But if my life is going to be challenged, I want to be able to defend myself. The criminals are still going to have guns.”
Even with the increasing prices, B & B Sales in North Hollywood, one of the area’s largest gun outlets, also was bustling.
Gun merchants there, as elsewhere, defended their recent price hikes, saying they reflected a matter of supply and demand that had led to higher wholesale prices.
Barry Kahn, owner of B & B Sales, said manufacturers have raised the price of guns that he ordered before the ban passed.
And rising price tags certainly did not stop Chris Encinas from purchasing his first gun at B & B on Wednesday. In fact, it put pressure on him to buy before prices skyrocketed.
“I’m trying to rush it,” said the 25-year-old Van Nuys man as he stood at the glass counter, where 20 semiautomatic handguns were displayed. “If we didn’t have the ban I wouldn’t have to, but it’s better that I buy it today.”
As the salesman placed the gun on the counter and Encinas ran his fingers over his $510 choice--a Glock 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun with a 15-round magazine--he said: “I can’t wait to get it home.”
The gun would remain legal under the ban, but the high-capacity magazine would not.
Turner’s in Reseda is among the stores that has not yet raised its prices, according to store manager Terry Barnes. But he said he has been offered as much as three times the retail price of some models that he does not stock.
“People are willing to pay whatever,” Barnes said.
Many gun shop owners contacted blamed the media for the ban, and refused to talk to reporters.
“The media fuels everything,” said Lee Montoya, special project director for Turner’s Outdoorsman, a chain of hunting and fishing stores in Southern California. “For people who were on the fence about buying a gun, this probably decided it for them.”
Anger about the ban also was expressed by many customers.
“It sucks,” said Jerry McCain, a Mojave resident who said that if he had the money he would buy a semiautomatic gun before they become illegal. “This whole notion of banning them to keep them away from outlaws, it ain’t going to work.”
Evidence of the gun-buying frenzy prompted by the ban has yet to reach the state level, said Mike Broderick of the State Department of Justice.
“We won’t know anything for a number of days,” said Broderick, whose office usually processes 60,000, 15-day waiting period applications daily.
But in many gun shops, empty display cases made it evident that the rush is on. Shop owners recalled that a similar increase in business occurred last year when Congress passed the Brady law, which required a 15-day waiting period for handgun buyers. A second burst of sales happened when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the ban on assault-style weapons late last year, they said.
At American Arms International in Glendale--which advertises it will beat or match any price--salesman Nick Sepian said he sold 10 guns daily before the ban, and now sells 25 most days.
“Nobody knows exactly what is going to be banned,” Sepian said. “But we are selling anything that has high capacity and looks intimidating.”
Across town at Western Gun Shop on Western Avenue, store employees estimated that business has increased by half since the House voted on the measure last Thursday. Store manager David Joo said he had to hire two more workers to meet the demand.
“Up until now, I haven’t had any time to have my lunch,” Joo said. “It’s been so busy.”
Times staff writer Julio Moran and special correspondent Sharon Moeser contributed to this story.
