The threat of the possibility of new regulation and gun control laws has sent customers scrambling for guns, ammunition and accessories in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Brownells, which describes itself as the world's largest firearm accessories supplier, said it had sold more than 3.5 years' worth of magazines in a 72-hour span. Its president, Pete Brownell, wrote an apology to customers on gun-owner forum AR15.com after complaints arose over a delay in orders placed on the company's website.
Many of the supplies for the AR-15 rifle are out of stock on the Brownells website, and the company posted a note to its customers that said, "due to extreme volumes, and winter storms, order shipment may be delayed."
The situation is similar at many of the AR-15 ammunition suppliers that the forums link to. Police say that Adam Lanza, the gunman in the Newtown spree, used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and carried several 30-round magazines.
Seven of 15 companies linked to in the forums say they are either experiencing shortages of parts for the AR-15 and/or have posted notes detailing to customers why orders are taking so long.
AIM Surplus warns customers with a pop-up notification upon visiting the site:
CMMG Inc., meanwhile, says that all of its products are on backorder for six months:
This year had already been a boon for gun sales. According to the FBI's website, there were 16.8 million background checks for gun ownership through the end of November. That's the most since 1998, when FBI began tracking the number of background checks.
Closer to Newtown, an employee of Dick's Sporting Goods in the nearby town of Danbury said Sunday that "it seems like more people are coming in than ever before" looking for ammunition and other accessories. That's despite the fact that Dick's has pulled all of its guns off the rack toward the back of its store in the wake of the massacre that left 20 children and seven others dead.
A Dick's manager said he couldn't discuss business matters at the time, but multiple employees noted the uptick in demand for ammunition and accessories.
Here's a photo of the empty gun rack (some of the ammunition and other accessories are still in the glass display):
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SEE ALSO: The NRA says no new gun laws are needed, calls for armed officers in schools >