LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — Frontier Justice stores on both sides of the state line are having a hard time keeping their shelves stocked.
Jason Wagner, chief operating officer, told 41 Action News that since the pandemic, sales have nearly tripled at their stores, which sell firearms.
“I can tell you that the day we have ammunition at one store versus the other, that’s the busier day," Wagner said.
Wagner compared the spike in sales to Black Friday traffic.
“We’ve seen an increase in traffic, pretty substantial increase in traffic, which I would say is no different than the rest of the country in our industry," Wagner said.
From February to March in the United States, nearly one million firearm background checks were initiated through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Wagner said he believes that people are scared and that's what is contributing to the increase.
“This particular moment in history, yeah, it’s fear," Wagner said. "I may have to take care of myself when somebody else may not be there to do so for me."
According to NICS firearms checks, in Kansas, there were more than 30,000 background checks during the month of March. Missouri saw 76,000 background checks, an increase of more than 27,000.
“We estimated anywhere in the neighborhood 50 to 75% of our clients were new to Frontier Justice and not just new to Frontier Justice, but new to the firearms industry as a whole,” Wagner said.
To continue firearm education efforts, Frontier Justice is providing online firearm classes to teach people the basics and, most importantly, safety.
Frontier Justice locations in Lee's Summit and Kansas City, Kansas, are open from noon until 6 p.m. and are only allowing seven people in the store at a time.
