TexasCHLforum.com

East Texas businesses see increase in gun sales, training due to current events

“We are always expecting a dip in the summertime, but with the recent events some people are scared and they are coming in. What we have seen is more and more people buying guns for defense instead of hunting. Here in the next few months, we will see an increase in hunting rifles being sold with deer season and the fall coming, but as of right now we have seen an increase in people buying handguns, defense shotguns, AR’s and so forth, to defend themselves and to those that they love,” he said.

Besides the gun sales going up, Ray Barron, owner and director of operations for Freedom Defense Training, also said there has been a 100% increase in enrollment of gun courses, especially beginner sessions.

“We’ve seen probably more new gun owners in the last few years than we have in probably the last 10 years of being open for business. I think around 2019 to 2020, especially with a lot of the violence that erupted around our country, a lot more people are aware now about personal safety than they had been in the past,” he said. “There has definitely been an increase in that and there’s been an extensive increase in females wanting to obtain licenses and training, that’s probably tripled in the last few years.”

Barron also mentioned that the course with the most increase in enrollment has been the advanced level courses for licensed individuals who seek to use it for protection in their household, out in public, or protection of families.

Another popular training course has recently been the training courses for school districts, said Barron.

I can confirm this.
Statistics said that when a state passes constitutional carry, CCW classes plummet for an average of 6 to 12 months and then they begin to rise again and in may cases surpasses previous levels. Sure enough, my classes right after Sept. 2021 dropped like a rock. Slowly and steadily they have begun to rise again and I am now at or above where I was in number of classes and students. Me personally I am booked every weekend through the end of August and several weekday private lessons as well.

Not quite back to the levels pre-Permitless Carry, but still seeing an uptick. Lots of beginner classes and steady LTC classes. What is encouraging is the demographics of the classes are no longer a bunch of old and very young white guys, but all races and sexes. Big increases in Black female students.

That's good. We've obviously seen how things can go very wrong with police response to a violent situation. However, even with the best response by police, they are still minutes away at best, and in those few minutes, things can go downhill very quickly. It is good that more people are realizing that, and taking steps to become their own instant response to potential unprovoked violent attack.

To quote Jeff Cooper:

The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory.

And

Fight back! Whenever you are offered violence, fight back! The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you. Whatever the risk, and at whatever the cost, fight back!

And

The only acceptable response to the threat of lethal violence is immediate and savage counterattack. If you resist, you just may get killed. If you don't resist you almost certainly will get killed. It is a tough choice, but there is only one right answer.

AF-Odin wrote: ↑Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:51 am Not quite back to the levels pre-Permitless Carry, but still seeing an uptick. Lots of beginner classes and steady LTC classes. What is encouraging is the demographics of the classes are no longer a bunch of old and very young white guys, but all races and sexes. Big increases in Black female students.

Agree, I'm seeing a huge difference in demographics amongst students. Sort of a downside though is with the influx of so many new to the world of shooting, so many are coming into the range unqualified. The longer I teach the more strict that I am on asking students to leave the range. We try to help if a student is having an issue with their firearm, but if I see you loading your rounds in backwards, or don't even know where the magazine release is, I pretty much ask you to leave. I just explain that part of our job is to observe students and when we see this things we are concerned that they may be a danger to themselves and others. I give them my card and request that they take a basic firearm course first.
I also keep a pocket knife in my pocket so that I can cut the tie wrap and price tags off their shiny new gun they've never even taken out of the box.. Oh and a few bandaids because they can't keep their thumbs away from the slide....

Outstanding! Thanks to all who contributed to this thread!