Posted: Sun, Jan. 15, 2012, 6:03 AM

Dealers say gun sales are strong; background checks hit a record

By Edward Colimore
Inquirer Staff Writer


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TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

Ed Tarpy watches as Jerry Fraley, 69, of Blackwood, checks out a gun at Tarpy's shop in Deptford. Gun laws in New Jersey are among the toughest in the United States.


Ed Tarpy has watched his sales soar over the last year and listened to the stories of customers who have come to his Deptford shop to buy a gun for the first time.


The pattern is familiar.

"We've been in business here since 1965, and when the economy drops, the sales of firearms go up," said Tarpy, owner of Ed's Gun Shop.
The national rate of violent crime has trended down in recent years, but "people say they're concerned about home break-ins," he said.


Geez, just imagine all the hoops those people in New Jersey have to jump through, and they're doing it!