Williamsport article on gun carry on rise

[bacher2741]

I was just reading the online version of the local newspaper when I came across the article at the link below. I thought it to be interesting that the gun shop owner says "he wouldn’t sell guns to people who didn’t have adequate knowledge of handling and shooting." and "wants people to take an educational course and learn how to shoot at the indoor gun range." which he owns. I guess he has good intentions but maybe going about it in an strange way. Let me know what you think. Also there are comments below the article with some of the feedback from the locals

bacher2741



http://www.sungazette.com/page/conte...ommentNum12112

[normanvin]

if i lived in williamsport i would want a gun also. oh wait i have one.

[MarcS]

I was just reading the online version of the local newspaper when I came across the article at the link below. I thought it to be interesting that the gun shop owner says "he wouldn’t sell guns to people who didn’t have adequate knowledge of handling and shooting." and "wants people to take an educational course and learn how to shoot at the indoor gun range." which he owns. I guess he has good intentions but maybe going about it in an strange way. Let me know what you think. Also there are comments below the article with some of the feedback from the locals

bacher2741



http://www.sungazette.com/page/conte...ommentNum12112

At one of the shops here in philly, if you buy a gun from them you get free basic instruction in their range. It's a good idea.

[bacher2741]

I agree that training is good. I just don't like someone saying I'll sell you a gun only if you pay for a course at my range.

bacher2741

[normanvin]

At one of the shops here in philly, if you buy a gun from them you get free basic instruction in their range. It's a good idea.

i could agree with that. from what i hear of some shops these guys have gone to they could not show you how to take it out of the box.

you have to appreciate a good shop.

[lildobe]

Posted under Fair Use:

More people want to be armed
By MARK MARONEY - mmaroney@sungazette.com
POSTED: February 9, 2008

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette

Max Lehman of Jersey Shore marks the point at which he would attempt to shoot a bullseye.

Purchases of guns and requests for carry permits are on a rise in the county, a trend that may be related to recent violence in the city.

“We have definitely seen more people coming in to buy handguns for self-protection ... some saying, because they work in Williamsport,” said Lisa Klein, assistant manager at Gander Mountain firearms and hunting department.

Lycoming County Sheriff Charles Brewer’s office reports a sharp rise in handgun permits following shootings on Jan. 4 that resulted in the death of one man and injuries to six others.

Gander Mountain employees have noticed about a 15-percent to 20-percent increase in the numbers of people buying handguns and pistols, Klein said. Some want the weapons for self-protection, others for target practice, she said.

Brewer said he could not give a reason for the spike in the numbers of people buying permits to carry firearms for five years.

“January was a busy month for pistol permit applications,” he said, though acknowledging he wasn’t sure if it has to do with the shootings. “That would be speculation.

“It does seem like more in general,” Brewer said of the number of permit applications.

He said he did not have access to the number of permits sold nor could he compare them with numbers sold last year at this time.

Both men and women applicants are asking for gun permits, he said.

In Pennsylvania, it isn’t necessary to buy a permit to own a handgun.

“Many people want one to keep in the house,” Brewer said.

Transfer of a gun from a store to a residence, while it is unloaded, is permitted. So, too, is taking a gun to a target range if the weapon is not loaded.

A gun store and range owner in the city, who lives a block and a half from the recent deadly shooting, has seen a dramatic increase in the number of men and women purchasing firearms.

“A lot more people want to buy a gun,” said Frank Tripoli, owner of Tripoli’s Triggers Firearm Training and Education Center on Washington Boulevard.

In the days after the shooting, Tripoli said he saw a 50-percent increase in the numbers of people coming in to buy handguns.

”I recognize that and I also saw a lot of them didn’t have the knowledge to own it,” he said.

Tripoli said he wouldn’t sell guns to people who didn’t have adequate knowledge of handling and shooting.

“That’s why I opened this place,” Tripoli said, “I want to be proactive rather than reactive.”

Tripoli wants people to take an educational course and learn how to shoot at the indoor gun range.

Dick’s Sporting Goods at the Lycoming Mall doesn’t sell handguns but reported an increase in firearms sold for hunting small game.

A big problem has been pellet guns and people painting the orange plastic guns black to make them look real, an employee at Dick’s said.

The worker, who declined to give his name, said he suspects that is being done by youths who want to mimic the gangsters who actually carry guns.

Police continue to investigate the January shooting case. In one 30-minute period, seven people were shot, including a 49-year-old father from Loyalsock Township who was fatally wounded when he and another man were hit by gunfire in a bar parking lot at Franklin and Hughes streets.

One minute after that shooting, gunfire erupted at the corner of Sixth Avenue and High Street, where two men, both in their 30s, were shot.

About 15 minutes before the fatal shooting, two men, both in their 20s, were wounded at Adam and Mary streets.

Before the night was over, a 14-year-old city boy walked into the Williamsport Hospital emergency room with injuries suffered when he was shot at Second and Memorial avenues.

Police said they are confident they will solve the shooting investigation.

[DaveM55]

At one of the shops here in philly, if you buy a gun from them you get free basic instruction in their range. It's a good idea.

I really like that idea of free basic training.

[ChamberedRound]

I agree that training is good. I just don't like someone saying I'll sell you a gun only if you pay for a course at my range.

bacher2741

Agreed. Regardless of the gun shop owner's actual intentions, this looks more like pushing an agenda rather than concern for public safety.

[imperialism2024]

The "safety" comments by the gun shop owner remind me of a story I read a while ago where a gun shop owner said that he refused to sell rifle-classified "assault weapons" to anyone under age 21 because he felt they weren't "responsible" enough...

Hell, I'm all for a business owner's right to decide who he wants as customers and who he does not want as customers. But if he wants to discriminate in a less politically correct way, I have to support the right to do that as well as discriminating in the name of "safety".

[theshadow]

I agree that training is good. I just don't like someone saying I'll sell you a gun only if you pay for a course at my range.

Yea, I don't think it should be the mandatory thing. I think he could have phrased it along the lines 'I just wish everyone who bought a gun here would take advantage of out training class'. But as a business man, I think he'd have a great marketing thing 'Buy a gun here and receive a FREE basic safety in operations class. Buy a gun somewhere else and we'll be happy to offer the same class for a nominal fee'. I'd be willing to bet he gets a lot of new first time customers had he articulated that to the paper.