REPORTER: If you want it and it’s legal, Chris Parsons of Houston Armory can get it for you. But, you might want to act quickly.
CHRIS PARSONS: Even the smallest parts are a six to eight month backorder for little things. So it’s getting real difficult to actually get a full gun assembled and sell a complete gun, because the lack of parts.
REPORTER: Gun sales have shot up so sharply that Sturm & Ruger, one of the largest manufacturers, has stopped taking orders for new guns. According to their website, they’ve received orders for a million guns in the first quarter of this year. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s happened before. In 2009, gun and ammunition prices went haywire because gun owners feared President Obama was going to try to ban gun sales. The feared ban never happened but the fear is back.
PARSONS: If he wins the election, he’s got nothing to lose. So a lot of people believe that he’s going to go after the guns if he gets a second term.
REPORTER: Parsons says there’s something else driving sales this time around—so-called "preppers." That’s Doomsday Preppers. The show is about people taking extreme steps to prepare for a breakdown in society. It’s been a huge hit. So huge that people say it’s touched off a fad.
GUN STORE OWNER: Probably, in my opinion, it’s about a 30 percent increase, because you’re having people that weren’t aware of really this type of thing until it became more evident and then more publicized.
REPORTER: And he’s pretty sure about that—why? Because one of the episodes was shot partly in this very store.