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Gun Sales Soar Ahead Of Obama's Plan To Curb Violence

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - More and more people are buying guns.

There has been a significant increase in sales and that trend is expected to continue with President Barack Obama announcing a series of executive steps aimed at curbing gun violence.

Sales are surging and stocks soaring.

On Monday alone, shares of Smith and Wesson rose almost 6 percent.

Gun stores all over the country are seeing more customers and Pittsburgh is no exception.

Last month, Allegheny County set a record for the most gun permits issued in the county in a single day.

At Braverman Arms on Penn Avenue in Wilkinsburg, there has been a steady increase in gun purchases.

"People are just afraid, just afraid," owner Keith Savage said.

Savage has been in the business for a long time and his father opened the shop.

He said he noticed a spike in sales over the holiday season.

"Actually, what I kind of heard this year was, 'We've been looking to buy guns and we've been putting it off, but since this last terror attack, that's what we asked for for Christmas,'" Savage said.

Savage said people often express concerns over terrorist attacks like the ones in Paris and in San Bernardino, California.

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There, a couple motivated by Islamic terrorists, shot and killed 14 people.

Savage said he always talks to people before they buy.

"We talk many people out of buying guns, as we do as actually selling guns," he said.

Savage, like many gun owners, is keeping a close eye on the gun control measures being discussed in Washington.

"Adding another law to the book isn't going to change. It's enforcing the ones that are already in existence," he said.

Meanwhile, the wait for those applying for a permit to carry a concealed weapon at the Allegheny County Courthouse Firearms Office grew to a two hour-long wait Tuesday afternoon.

Can be an hour long. That's what the sign said when we got to the firearms office.

But later in the afternoon, the wait grew to two hours.

"Just to protect myself," said Keyona Harrison, of the North Side. "I feel like there's a lot going on in the world especially, and Pittsburgh, there's a lot going on here, a lot of killings. There's a lot of young kids getting killed."

Also among those waiting was James Granz of Verona. He's a hunter and a target shooter but headlines also affected his trip to the courthouse.

"A little bit to be protected and to protect your family, but more on the lines of its always I wanted to have a concealed weapons permit, and it's getting kind of hectic now, so get it done before things change and stuff," said Granz.

Not only headlines about crime and terrorism, but a perception about how new laws might affect availability of applications, too.

"With everything that's going on with the administration the way it is, I'd like to get my permit so that I would feel more comfortable protecting myself and my family," said Bill Murphy, of Cheswick.

Allegheny County Sheriff Bill Mullen says having a concealed weapon permit is not an automatic cure all.

"The biggest concern I have is the proper training," said Sheriff Bill Mullen. "You know, getting a license to carry concealed doesn't mean that you're properly trained to handle that firearm in the event that you have to use it."

He urges those who obtain a concealed permit to get training in gun use and the law.

"Refresh themselves with what the law says you can or cannot do. Just because you're given a license to carry concealed doesn't mean that you can pull it out to threaten people. There's only certain instances where you can shoot and they must be on firm ground or they're going to wind up possibly in jail," he said.

Mullen says headlines help drive demand for permits.

"Last year, I think we did a little over 17,000 licenses to carry concealed," he said. "We were on pace to be right around that number this year and suddenly with the San Bernardino massacre and the massacre in Paris, the numbers were driven up to... we finished with nearly 20,000."

Mullen says the record for permits is 21,000, which spiked right after the Sandy Hook school shootings.

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