Firearm sales skyrocketed at a Chicago-area gun shop following COVID-19 lockdowns and crime spikes in the city.
Dan Eldridge, the owner of Maxon Shooter's Supplies and Indoor Range in Des Plaines, Illinois – located just 20 minutes outside Chicago – told Fox News that his shop had seen more than a 200% increase in firearm sales since the height of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders.
"The addresses … where people previously felt safe in their doorman building or a townhome in a good neighborhood – suddenly they didn't, and that's understandable," Eldridge said.
"In uncertain times, reasonable people are going to take steps to protect themselves and their loved ones," Eldridge told Fox News. "For a lot of people, that meant purchasing a firearm, ammunition and the training on how to use it."
Maxon's jump in firearm sales has coincided with Chicago's increased violent crime rates. The city hit at least 800 homicides in 2021 – a number it hasn't seen in 25 years, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"Imagine yourself in your downtown condo watching the Walgreens across the street where you shop every week get looted repeatedly," Eldridge said. "That's awfully unsettling when all that stands between you and that mob is a glass door and probably an elderly doorman."
"You just feel insecure, so we did see quite a bit of that," he continued.
Eldridge's business parsed its sales data and found sharp increases in firearm purchases among women and minorities.
www.foxnews.com
Dan Eldridge, the owner of Maxon Shooter's Supplies and Indoor Range in Des Plaines, Illinois – located just 20 minutes outside Chicago – told Fox News that his shop had seen more than a 200% increase in firearm sales since the height of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders.
"The addresses … where people previously felt safe in their doorman building or a townhome in a good neighborhood – suddenly they didn't, and that's understandable," Eldridge said.
"In uncertain times, reasonable people are going to take steps to protect themselves and their loved ones," Eldridge told Fox News. "For a lot of people, that meant purchasing a firearm, ammunition and the training on how to use it."
Maxon's jump in firearm sales has coincided with Chicago's increased violent crime rates. The city hit at least 800 homicides in 2021 – a number it hasn't seen in 25 years, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"Imagine yourself in your downtown condo watching the Walgreens across the street where you shop every week get looted repeatedly," Eldridge said. "That's awfully unsettling when all that stands between you and that mob is a glass door and probably an elderly doorman."
"You just feel insecure, so we did see quite a bit of that," he continued.
Eldridge's business parsed its sales data and found sharp increases in firearm purchases among women and minorities.
Chicago gun shop sees skyrocketing sales following lockdowns, crime spikes
Maxon Shooter's Supplies and Indoor Range has seen a drastic increase in firearm sales as crime spikes in Chicago.
www.foxnews.com
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
