Gun craze at Christmas

It's a stocking stuffer that will certainly get a reaction.

Gun sales are shooting up (funny, right?) in Kootenai County, which outfitting stores say is typical for the holiday season.

"It was ridiculous," Brandon Kron with Wholesale Sports said of gun sales on Black Friday.

The store has continued boxing up more guns than usual as families do their holiday shopping, Kron said.

It's common for folks to buy a piece for just about anyone, he said - spouses, children, friends.

"I think it has some big sentimental vale. A lot of people pass it down from family to family," Kron said. "It's a good fit, if that family's really into guns. It's almost like a new car."

The reasonably priced .22 rifles are really flying out the door, he said. Men have also been purchasing small pistols for their wives to use for self defense.

And apparently most kids won't hear the words "but you'll shoot your eye out!" as Kron sees families buying guns as gifts for kids around 12 years old, he added.

"If they follow the rules and laws and also be safe, it's totally appropriate," he said. "Learning from dad, or mom, spending that quality time, that's great."

His own parents, Kron added, gifted him with a gun at 12.

"It was pretty awesome. I wanted to go out that day and shoot it," he said with a chuckle.

About twice as many guns were sold on Black Friday as a normal day at Black Sheep Sporting Goods, said salesman J.B. Wilson.

But it has been a better year for gun sales overall, he noted.

"It's starting to pick up definitely because of the holidays," Wilson said, adding that hunting rifles and .22s have been the most popular gift choices.

The gun sales are a boon for the store, he said, because folks who come in for guns will generally wander to other departments and pick up additional items.

Shooting and hunting are just popular hobbies for rugged North Idaho residents, Wilson said.

Adding that he received a gun as a present at 16, he believes it is a fine gift.

"It'll last you a lifetime," Wilson said.

Downtown Guns and Ammo has noticed a gradual uptick in gun purchases over the past two months, said salesman Eric Johnson.

From conversations with customers, he believes it's because of anxiety over the recent rash of burglaries and other crimes.

"It's definitely making an impact," Johnson said, adding that concealed weapons have been the biggest draw. "They're justifying it as, 'This is an early Christmas gift,' but they're putting it in their hands now."

Cabela's Sporting Goods attributes its holiday pick-up in gun sales to gifts for hunters, said spokesman Pete Marion.

Guns are a good fit under the tree, Marion noted, because they can be received at almost any age.

"It can go anywhere from young adult, all the way up to grandpa, and everybody in between," he said.

Twenty-six-year-old Christine Bateman had the best intentions at Black Sheep on Monday as she prepared to buy a hunting rifle for her 15-year-old brother for Christmas.

She's going to teach him to hunt with it, Bateman said.

"It's kind of a family tradition," the Coeur d'Alene woman said. "When I was 12, my dad gave me the same gun his father gave him when he was 12."

Randy Rich of Worley said he was buying a Muzzleloader for himself at Black Sheep, but he has received guns from his father in the past.

He has also bought guns for his own son, including a "baby gun" when the boy was 6 years old.

"There are a lot of uses," Rich said of why guns are ideal presents. "You can hunt deer, hunt elk, put holes in wolves."

Nate Pulliam, range safety officer with the Coeur d'Alene Rifle and Pistol Club, said guns are a wonderful gift, so long as proper training and handling techniques are also provided.

"With the right education and training, (the gift receivers) could do very well," Pulliam said. "It would be a great gift, but would really depend on the responsibility of the person."