LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB ) -- With gun and ammo sales soaring amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, some stores are having trouble keeping up with the demand.
At Openrange Gun Range in Crestwood, the shelves are starting to look more bare.
Jake Nyman said the number one reason he walked into Openrange on Wednesday to buy a gun was to protect his family.
"(I) just want to kind of upgrade, and the general panic out there with the toilet paper people," Nyman said. "If it happened in the first week of this, or looking at a month or maybe two, or who knows. Where will human nature go from here?”
Marlan Ingram, the director of training at Openrange, said he guesses business is up at least 200%.
“(It's) unprecedented," Ingram said. “Just person, after person, after person coming in trying to just get any kind of gun they can get.”
The demand is so high, the store is trying to manage supplies by limiting two boxes of ammo per customer. A Louisville gun store, that was unable to do an interview with WDRB News, said it is limiting one box of ammo per customer.
"In all honesty, I think we are going to see rationing of many different things," Nyman said.
Nyman is not a first time gun buyer, but Ingram said many of those buying guns right now are.
"The current situation is spurring them to think about it when I guess they haven’t thought about it before," Ingram said.
Ingram said the influx of people is delaying background checks and he has concerns about the overwhelming business.
"I definitely believe in the 2nd amendment. You do have the right to own a firearm," Ingram said. "But to use it correctly takes training and right now the people just want the firearms. The training that’s kind of second in people’s minds, if at all.”
Ingram encourages gun owners to seek proper training.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the gun range at Openrange temporarily closed, but the retail store remains open.
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