Guns become popular Christmas gift

MARSHALL, Ill. (WTHI) - This holiday shopping season, one type of gift gained a prominent spot on Christmas lists: guns.

The FBI reports that it processed a record number of instant background checks on Black Friday, more than 129,166 that day.

They also report that almost half a million background checks were done in the six days before Christmas.

News 10 asked several Wabash Valley gun shops whether they had seen an increase in gun purchases before Christmas.

“Friday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, was a good day for us,” said William Behnke, owner of Lost Creek Trading Post in Marshall, Ill. “We had increased sales, and our sales are up for the year over last year by about 10 percent.”

Behnke said most of the demand for guns this year has been for handguns to be used for personal protection.

He also said many women who are becoming active hunters have been buying guns of their own.

We asked Behnke whether he thought more people were buying guns out of fear that gun laws might change.

He said that that may have been the case after the 2008 election, but he doubted that was still the case.