Ammo was going 'like toilet paper' at some central Pa. gun shops

Shelly Stallsmith
York Daily Record

Bluestone Firearms is a small gun shop in southcentral Pennsylvania that draws a diverse clientele from the cities of York and Lancaster and the rural area in between.

On Saturday and Monday, Bluestone was busier than it’s ever been, according to owner Jeff Rodemyer. He says his shop has been busier than any last day before Christmas or any holiday rush.

Bluestone’s wasn’t the only gun shop that was busy on Monday. When contacted, several owners in multiple nearby counties said they would love to talk, but didn’t have the time.

Minutes after his store was scheduled to close Monday night, Rodemyer still had customers waiting for background checks to go through so they could complete their sales.

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“It’s interesting, because a lot of the people coming in aren’t really gun people,” Rodemyer said. “They are first-time buyers, coming in to get a handgun or home defense shotgun. People are panicked.”

The 52-year-old, whose shop is in Lower Windsor Township, York County, said it’s not coronavirus that has people worried. It’s the panic that has people worried.

“Not a single person in the last month has been worried about catching the virus,” Rodemyer said. “They are worried about things being shut down, potential rioting and they want to protect their family.”

He said it’s not unusual to see an uptick in sales this time of year, thanks to income tax refunds and better weather as spring nears. But recent days have topped anything he’s seen.

And while it might be panic that brings people to his store, he said they are nothing but calm, patient and kind while they wait.

“I have a small store, and it was steady from 9 o’clock this morning,” Rodemyer said. “There were always 20-30 people in the store. I had to shut my phones off for a little while because they were ringing constantly.”

Because he was so busy, Rodemyer hasn’t had a chance to dive too deeply into Gov. Tom Wolf’s call for nonessential businesses to close for the next two weeks. He wants more direction before he makes a decision about staying open or closing.

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One of Rodemyer’s competitors has already made that decision. Freedom Armory in Springfield Township stayed open a little longer Monday night, but will be closed for the next two weeks according to the recording that plays when you call the business.

Rodemyer said it wasn’t just guns flying off his shelves. Plenty of ammo was going along with it, especially 9 mm ammunition.

“Ammunition was like toilet paper and [hand sanitizer] to us,” he said.

Shelly Stallsmith is a trends reporter for the York Daily Record. She can be reached at mstallsmith@ydr.com or followed on Twitter at @ShelStallsmith.