Guns are riding high on holiday gift lists
By Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, December 2, 2009


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On Kevin Wence's 10th Christmas, he opened a gift from his father and discovered what would become A Christmas Story legend: a Red Ryder BB air rifle. His first gun.

On Monday, Wence bought his 15th, a stainless-steel Smith & Wesson Model 686 revolver. Unlike the air rifle, this gun won't sit under the Christmas tree, he said. But it would be a family gift that he, his wife and his 24-year-old son, all trained in shooting, could use to protect their St. Petersburg home.

"In responsible hands, they're safe. They're fun. It's a hobby," Wence said as he signed a form authorizing a background check at the Pinellas Park Bill Jackson's Shop for Adventure. "Once you fire a bullet, you can't take it back. But you can still have fun with them."

The desire for fun, the hunt or self defense has drawn shoppers looking for the perfect Christmas gift to gun stores across Tampa Bay, dealers said. At most stores, the shopping is a family affair — a father and daughter firing at the range, husbands semiauto shopping with their wives, parents price-checking hunting bows for their young son.

"It's a feeling of confidence, like having a shield," said Tony Orifici, a salesman at Dunedin's Florida Survivalist gun shop. "Grandpa wants a shotgun. Mom wants a revolver. … We had a family come in and buy an AR-15, a shotgun and two handguns, one for each of them."

But the season's real present may go to the gun dealers, many of them still counting the post-election profits of an "Obama rush" that saw shoppers stockpiling in case a new administration banned firearms. As other businesses hope for the year's low sales to turn around with the holidays, firearms dealers say they're simply waiting for their revenue to shoot even higher.

"The one thing I've realized is constant is guns, along with gas and groceries," said Frank Desrosiers, the sales manager at Clearwater's Knight Shooting Sports. "We don't have to push anything. We have a built-in attraction."

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...lidays/1056028