“I would say business is doing very well,” Parkin said.

He cited reasons such as uncertainty over COVID-19, discussions over new state gun laws and concerns over discussions over the definition of police. Sales can fluctuate and it is not yet clear what sales will look like from year to year as different factors and public elements can influence sales. Parkin noted that sales of all types of firearms, whether handguns, revolvers, rifles and semi-automatic weapons, are currently doing well.

“At the moment, sales are not like 2020, but they are better than in 2019,” he said.

Parkin said California is already too restrictive on gun laws, noting that some buyers are concerned that the guns they want will no longer be available in the future due to potential new laws.

“Every time California passes a new gun law, people get a little tense,” Parkin said.

According to data from the California Department of Justice released on July 1, Attorney General Rob Bonta noted that 2020 saw gun sales increase from previous years, although 2016 remains the highest year. for total sales never recorded. There was a record 686,435 handgun sales in 2020, an increase of 65.5% from 2019, when there were 414,705. The sale of long guns increased by 45.9%, from 329,311 in 2019 to 480,401 in 2020. Approximately 72% of handgun transactions in California in 2020 were purchases made from dealers and approximately 89% were long guns. An increase at the state level can also be seen at the federal level when the FBI’s National Criminal Background Check System in 2020 processed a record 39.7 million background checks, an increase of 28.4 million in 2019. Background checks are considered an indicator of gun sales. .

Parkin said COVID-19 and uncertainty over what would happen to people during the pandemic has led to increased sales of guns. According to Open Justice data from the California Department of Justice, March 2020 saw the state’s highest gun deal rate at 128,174, with June the second highest at 119,442. As arms sales are on the rise, Parkin said ammunition is not as readily available after gunmaker Remington went bankrupt. Remington accounted for a significant portion of ammunition sales across the country.

State and county gun control has undergone recent changes. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California recently ruled in June that California’s 1989 gun control law, banning various semi-automatic firearms, was unconstitutional. In his decision, he noted that the AR-15 rifle was good for both home and battle, and “like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment “.

Meanwhile, San Mateo County approved stricter gun regulations in June for gun retailers wishing to open in unincorporated San Mateo County, including a stricter protocol. in licensing, security and operations.

The county wants to strengthen its ordinance on the retail sale of firearms for unincorporated areas and create a future model ordinance to be adopted by towns on the peninsula. The updated ordinance would require more security restrictions like steel bars above windows, better alarm systems and surveillance cameras, and buffer zones between future stores and sensitive areas. The buffer zones would require stores to be 200 feet from residential structures and 600 feet from schools, community centers and religious institutions.