Gun dealer: More execs arm for protection

By Bill Shea, Crain’s Detroit Business

The widely reported increase in U.S. small arms sales and ammunition shortages are beginning to taper off, several metro Detroit gun shops say, but one store is seeing another trend: Business executives buying handguns for personal protection.

“I get guys that come in here who want to arm themselves and ask about security for their business over workplace violence,” said Ray Jihad, owner of Royal Oak-based Target Sports. “It’s because of them laying people off.”

Jihad declined to identify specific companies that have had executives buying guns, citing privacy and safety concerns, but he did say they come from prominent auto suppliers, banks, accounting firms and steel manufacturers.

Target Sports bought $2 million worth of small arms last year in anticipation of a run on guns sparked by fears of the Democratic Party, which traditionally favors deeper restrictions on guns, controlling both the White House and Congress.

Jihad said he’s sold almost all of his inventory, and some of it went to those more worried about workplace violence than any new gun laws.

The proximity of Target Sports to several affluent communities may help explain why the store is seeing an uptick in business owners and corporate executives arming themselves against disgruntled employees.

Other gun shops and ranges, such as Westland-based Firing Line and Livonia-based Firearms Exchange, say they haven’t noticed the same trend, but do report a seasonal slowdown in gun sales in what has been among their best years ever for retailing weapons.

The FBI has done 236,049 criminal background checks for Michigan firearms sales so far this year, up more than 12 percent compared to 209,970 through the same period last year.

That continues a national trend of background checks being up since the presidential election, although the increases have slowed since November, when they hit 1.5 million, according to the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc., the trade group for the ammunition industry.

Background checks are required for individual firearms sales and serve as a gauge of sales but do not reflect the actual number of guns produced or sold, the foundation said. The checks don’t break down sales by demographics.

Any worry about irate workers likely won’t abate soon: Michigan alone has lost more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year, and economists say staffing reductions will continue through next year.

Of last year’s 5,071 workplace fatalities nationally, about 10 percent were homicides, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Of the 28 executive-level management fatalities last year, six were shootings and the remainder were accidents, the report said.

There’s been a trend this year of “bossnappings” in France by employees unhappy over plant closures, including at facilities owned by Sony, 3M, Caterpillar and Michelin.

All of the gun shops contacted by Crain’s said the AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle that’s a civilian version of the military’s fully automatic M-16A2, has been the weapon most commonly sought by those fearing stricter gun control, followed by high-capacity pistols.

Executives personally worried about violence by ex-employees are more likely to want a pistol, Jihad said.