SEVIERVILLE (WATE) – Concerns about gun control, combined with the violent events of 2015, have caused a boom in gun sales.
President Barack Obama plans to meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday to discuss gun control as staff at Smoky Mountain Knife Works say they’ve seen a 450 percent spike in gun sales since the day after Thanksgiving.
“Always expanding my arsenal,” said customer James Moore, when asked why he was shopping on New Year’s Day.
People shopping at the store were not really going for the president’s idea.
“Gun control is not the issue. It’s their hearts that’s the issue. People don’t have fear anymore. People don’t care and they don’t read the instructions,” Moore added.
“I believe people here should have as many guns as they want to have. Nobody should have any control over who says what they can have. If they want to have a gun, let them have a gun,” said gun shopper Leah Bowles.
Staff say the violence from 2015 was a huge motivator for customers, and the San Bernadino shooting was a big factor.
“After San Bernadino and all of the talk about gun control, anyone who thought about getting a gun, went ahead and got one. And maybe not one, but two or three,” explained Josh Hill, who works at Smoky Mountain Knife Works.
President Obama says he’s heard from several parents, teachers and children concerned about the epidemic of gun violence.
“I recognize the Second Amendment. But I think even with the Second Amendment, there needs to be limits placed on what people can have. And the debate that has to occur is what the limits within the Second Amendment are,” mother of two Kim Silvestri said.
Officials at Smoky Mountain Knife Works expect high gun sales to continue, going into 2016.
