More Residents Taking Up Arms

Responding to the terrorist attacks on the East Coast, Ventura County residents are scrambling to beef up security in their homes, sending gun sales soaring and sharply increasing business at shooting ranges.

Some local gun shop owners said sales have increased as much as 50% in the month since the Sept. 11 attacks, with a dramatic increase in first-time gun buyers. Gun-training experts are adding classes to keep up with demand.

“Now, self-defense seems to be a good idea,” said Harry Lackerdas, owner of H & S Catalogue gun shop in Ventura. “Are people expecting incidents in their frontyards? No, but people are starting to think things are possible that they never thought were possible before.”

As proof, Lackerdas pulls out a sign-up sheet for the Basic Firearm Safety Test, which all new gun owners are required by law to pass before bringing home their first gun. Three or four people typically take the test each month. In the past 30 days, 27 have signed up.

“Let me put it this way,’ said Jim Davis of Agoura Hills Target Range. “I used to be able to take a lunch.

“I saw a lot of the same hoopla during the L.A. riots. But this is different. The mind-set of people has changed,” he said.

Most people seem to realize that more guns probably won’t make them any safer from terrorist attacks. But Barry Glassne, a sociology professor at USC and the author of “The Culture of Fear,” said the attacks have left Americans feeling more vulnerable. So they are looking for ways to recapture a little of the security they took for granted just a few weeks ago.

“It’s a feeling of needing to do something,” Glassne said. “It’s, ‘I’m in danger. I need to act,’ even though this is something that’s well beyond us, something that has to involve the U.S. government and others.”

At the Sheriff’s Department, requests for applications for concealed weapon permits have also doubled, said department spokesman Eric Nishimoto. One to two people a day now come in asking for an application, compared with one or two a week before Sept. 11.

The majority of first-timers seeking guns and permits are women, said area gun store owners.

At the Agoura Hills Target Range, where business has jumped as much as 75%, the Tuesday ladies night class is loaded with female first-timers and their husbands and boyfriends, Davis said.

Their reaction is understandable, Glassne said.

“Men tend to have aggressive responses,” Glassne said. “They want to kill, to strike back. But more often, women tend to feel more in danger or vulnerable and they want to do something to feel less afraid.”

Women also appear to be the primary purchasers of gas masks, for themselves and their families, said shopkeepers at county Army surplus stores. Sales are brisk, despite warnings from health experts that the masks aren’t a good idea--mostly because people will likely not realize they’ve been exposed to diseases such as anthrax or smallpox until symptoms occur.

Patrick Skees of PS Surplus in Oxnard said he sold out of flags in the week after the attacks. By the second week, gas masks were the big sellers, and suppliers have told him it will be four to five weeks before they can get him any more.

“There’s limited application [for the gas masks] and I tell customers that,” Skees said. “But the common response was that it will make the family feel safer. For 20 bucks, I guess that’s a cheap price to pay to feel a little more secure.”

Shooting range customer Ron Davis agreed that it was time to do whatever he could to make himself and his family feel safer. The Thousand Oaks resident said that if the Sept. 11 attacks taught him anything, it’s that everyone is vulnerable.

Davis, gripping the black handle of a Glock 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, said the next gun he buys will need to fit snugly in his tan alligator-skin boots.

“I’m hoping that if I’m caught by a police officer they will give me some consideration, but I will take my chances,” Davis said. “I will take the risks.”

Hearing such comments, Glassne said that’s a normal response to the attack on the United States. But in the long run, such sentiment may only fuel fears, he warned.

“These types of objects around the house remind you constantly of how fearful you are and can increase your level of fear,” Glassne said. “And one thing people need to ask themselves when they are attempting to buy a gas mask, guns and so forth--what kind of message are they sending to their children?

“Children need to feel they are safe. But when we have gas masks and guns sitting around, we’re not sending that message to our children.”