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Gun demand spikes amid COVID-19 outbreak

While many stores are hurting financially, that's not the case for a local gun shop.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala — Stop outside Larry's Pistol and Pawn on North Parkway, and you'll find a line of customers waiting to get inside the store. The owner, Larry Barnett says the overall demand for guns right now is tremendous.

"We've seen gradual increases that became greater over the last 90 days," said Barnett, who has been in business more than 40 years.

At his store, no more than 15 customers can be in the store at the same time as they're practicing social distancing.

"We have a free museum at our west store that has got several hundred really nice guns in it. The impact of people going to the museum is terrible," he said.

However, that's not the case at the N Parkway store. The demand for ammunition is high, and Barnett says they're seeing more first time gun owners. A future of uncertainty may be part of what's driving the demand. 

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"Surely they're worried. Everybody is worried about everything right now. To me, the attitude is more of insurance than having a gun that can be used in any way as offensive," said Barnett of gun purchasers at his store.

Currently, there's a limit on how much ammunition customers can purchase.

"There's been a gradual increase over the last 30 days when guns and ammo started becoming scarce. I think it scared people when the Internet ran out of ammunition," he said.

Barnett says he has a promise for his customers..

"We will not raise our prices above our normal markup," he pledged.

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