MUSCATINE, Iowa – Sales of guns and ammunition have leveled out since the election of President Barack Obama, who many see as a gun opponent.

But it has been a busy year for gun and ammunition dealers and manufacturers while the sale of many other items — from houses to cars — have been sluggish.

“The phone was ringing off the wall,” said Terry Williams, a co-owner and vice president of Superior Arms Inc. in Wapello, a custom gun-manufacturing facility founded in 2004.  “Hundreds of dealers were calling, anticipating a rush, which we saw.”

From Nov. 3, 2008, to mid-July 2009, Williams said inventory was hard to come by.

The reason, he said, was many dealers and gun buyers were expecting tough legislation from Obama, and when he was elected on Nov. 4, 2008, the demand increased.

The fears have spread nationwide, according to a  Gallup poll released last week. It found that 55 percent of gun owners and 41 percent of all Americans think Obama “will attempt to ban the sale of guns in the United States while he is president.”

A rush to buyVernon LaRue and son Steven, owners and operators of Hammer and Wedge at 108 E. Second St. have seen an increase in sales.

“They jumped after he [Obama] got elected,” Vernon LaRue said. “He was our biggest salesperson.”

LaRue said many people who hadn’t taken the opportunity to buy a gun found themselves in gun shops. Many were buying handguns for the first time.

Muscatine County Sheriff Dave White said there was a drastic increase in permit requests , which are required for residents to purchase handguns.

“The increase was substantial,” White said. “I’d say in the 40 percent range. I think some folks thought there might be some control on handguns.”

LaRue said this year has been one of the busiest he’s seen since opening Hammer and Wedge 12 years ago.

Both pistols, and rifles, like the AR-15, are particularly sought-after, he said.

There has not been any direct action by the federal or state governments to ban gun ownership or to tighten regulations. Many people, however, are anxious about House Resolution 45, the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009. The act, introduced in January 2009 would prohibit individuals from carrying a handgun without a license. Such firearms could only be purchased through a licensed dealer.

“It’s not necessarily a matter of if but when,” Williams said of legislation. “The people I’ve talked to seem to believe legislation is coming.”

Stocking upBesides new guns, gun owners have been stocking up on ammunition.

LaRue said the .380 ammunition was “next to impossible to find,” during the spring months when sales peaked.

At Blain’s Farm & Fleet on U.S. Highway 61, Paula Rohr has seen her shelves slowly regaining inventory.

“We’ve been out of some handgun ammunition since May,” she said, adding that the little stock she does receive is usually bought instantly.

“It’s hard for us to get [inventory] in. Right now, the ones people want are the .44 mags and the .380,” Rohr said. “But we’re just now getting them in. Now .22s seem to be the one.”

Rohr said Farm & Fleet has a five-box limit for customers to “keep purchasing more fair.”

In the three years she’s worked at Farm & Fleet, she said this has been the busiest.

At a recent seminar she attended, Rohr said a Winchester Repeating Arms representative said a similar spike occurred when President Bill Clinton took office in 1993.

“The demand this time is way over,” she said. “The spikes [in sales] are quadrupled this time.”

Leveling out

Despite the sluggish inventory flow, many businesses said things are back to normal.

With hunting season under way, the regular customers are back buying typical hunting equipment, LaRue said, and traffic in the store has slowed down.

Williams said some gun buyers might not be stocking up because of political reasons, but rather investing in a gun that might be worth something years later.

“Guns have always been that way. Buy (a) gun, pass it down through generations of family,” he said.

In some cases, certain specifications on a gun might make it more valuable if it should ever become illegal.

“It was crazy but it’s calming down now,” LaRue said.

For Williams, it was important to stay in business despite tough economic times, and he survived the worst of it.

“It kept us busy in manufacturing, [being] one of the only industries producing things,” Williams said. “It was kind of a blessing for us to keep the machine shop going.”