The media keeps shouting about how bad the economy is, but gun buyers don’t seem to be listening.

Firearms sales have soared the past couple of months, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) attributes this to concerns about incoming lawmakers.

A recent poll done by Southwick Associates, which specialize in economic and business statistics related to fish and wildlife, revealed that 80 percent of respondents said they expect it will become more difficult for them to purchase firearms under the current administration. Less than 1 percent indicated they expect gun purchases to become less difficult.

Increases in firearm sales since the November election are a strong indicator these polls are correct. The NSSF cited data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which showed a 24 percent increase in firearms purchaser background checks for the month of December 2008 over the prior December.

This increase followed a 42-percent rise in NICS checks for the preceding month, which incidentally was the highest number in NICS history. The trend has continued through January as firearms dealers saw an increase of 28.8 percent when compared to the previous January.

Dean Par of DGS Fine Firearms confirmed this trend in the St. Joseph area.

“We started seeing an increase in sales in mid-October, and it’s continued up until recently. No one knows what’s going to happen; things could get worse with just the simple change of a Supreme Court Justice,” Par said.

The most dramatic increases are in the sales of home defense-type shotguns, and assault rifle-style or military-type, semi-automatic rifles. There’s also been an increase in certain handguns as more and more people seek to obtain conceal-carry permits.

This is another area that has spiked with increased interest, according to Par. DGS offers two to three classes per month, and prior to the last couple of months, a class would normally have five to 10 participants. In the past couple of months, the majority of classes have had 25 to 30 students.

Par believes the current administration has many firearms owners in fear of stricter gun-control laws. After being in the firearms business for 40 years, he recalled a similar trend during the Clinton administration when Joseph Biden, a senator at the time, was a leading gun-control supporter in Congress. Par said Biden was pushing even more of this type legislation prior to the election.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the large increase in demand for firearms has also led to a shortage of Form 4473s — the Firearms Transaction Record that must be filled out any time a person buys a firearm from a licensed retailer.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be reached at npsports@npgco.com