Gun sales in South Dakota on the decline... or are they?

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - President Joe Biden signed an executive order in March that seeks to ensure background checks are done on all firearms before they are sold. Some argue that increasing restrictions on who can purchase a gun will cause gun sales to drop, but does it?

According to Justin Bohn with Sturgis Guns, Spring is always a time of year when gun sales begin to dip. Aside from the time of year Bohn says that covid created an unusual bump for their sales and they are seeing that bump begin to level out now. Bohn argues that the procedure for background checks has not changed for them since the order.

“No the checks have stayed the same the requirements are the same. Driver’s license, the background check is done on every gun we sell. So you can’t get around that… there’s no way to get around that,” said Bohn.

He argues that they have always performed federal background checks before sales and that this executive order doesn’t have the impact on them that it may have on others. Another employee at Sturgis Guns thinks this has more to do with the treatment a person may get in the shop.

“Yeah I think the big reason why people think all sales are down is because the box stores are probably not doing as well. They don’t give the quality service that you get from a mom-and-pop shop here,” said Mike Tempesta, an employee of Sturgis Guns.

Bohn says he expects to see sales climb again as we get closer to Summer.

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