As his nearly 2-hour wait to climb the narrow steps and go through the heavily fortified door of the Philadelphia Archery & Gun Club in South Philadelphia came to an end, Andrew Thomas made what would shortly come to sound like a prophecy.
“I see a lot of people in this line and I question, ‘Are they coherent? Are they sane? Are they responsible? Will they be reckless?’” Thomas asked. “I’m just a little concerned that people will not be responsible with their firearms and not be respectful.”
Thomas, a 42-year-old barbershop owner and trained shooter from Mount Airy, waited in line with at least 40 others — all of them standing much closer than the CDC’s recommended 6 feet, and many of them African Americans.
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The line to the gun store and range in the 800 block of Ellsworth Street snaked to the end of the block. A security guard who spoke on condition of anonymity said business at the store has increased in the week since the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic.
“We always have a good number of African-American customers,” the security guard said. “But business is not like this regularly, not with the lines out the door and up to 9th Street.”
The Philadelphia Archery & Gun Club is not the only gun store in the area — or the state, or nation — to see a dramatic increase in business in the last few days.
Ammo.com has reported sales up nearly 70% from Feb. 23 to March 4 over the previous 11 days.
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