Sniper Prompts Gun-Buying Spree

The Beltway killer has sparked a booming interest in guns in northern Virginia.

"In Spotsylvania, Stafford, Prince William and Fairfax counties - all at or near sniper attacks - officials report up to a 500 percent increase in applications for concealed-weapons permits, and gun sales are up nearly as much," the New York Post reported today.

Barbara Brinklow, deputy clerk of the Spotsylvania circuit court, said, "We're seeing a lot of women, which is a change from traditional permit applicants."

"I had an 81-year-old man come in this morning," said deputy clerk Kathy McAllister in Stafford County. "'It's just the way the world is now,' he told me."

The surge in demand has forced delays. The permits used to involve a three-week wait because of background checks. That time has doubled.

Sales of firearms have also soared. "The owner of Damage Inc., a gun shop in Stafford County, said gun sales at his store have increased 300 percent since the sniper's rampage began," the Post reported.

Fox News Channel reported tonight that gun rights groups and the police were warning people not to try to shoot it out with the sniper.

Maryland Cracks Down

In neighboring Maryland, controlled by leftist Democrats, the situation is different. Gov. Parris Glendening has banned recreational use of firearms, including hunting, in four counties near Washington.

"Maryland has some of the most draconian gun laws in the nation, and those laws have not kept the people of Maryland safe from this nut," said the group Seniors United Supporting the Second Amendment, referring to the killer, not the governor.

"SUSSA is disturbed that the elitist anti-civil-rights groups are using the blood shed by the people of Maryland and Virginia to advance their radical agenda."

Gays for Gun Rights

Meanwhile, in the Northwest, homosexuals are coming out for their Second Amendment rights, the Seattle Times reported Wednesday.

"I'm in sync with Democratic Party values, but their gun-control stance doesn't work," said gun rights activist Nicole Shounder of Lynnwood, Wash. "We stand out as possible targets, and we are not going to let harm come to ourselves or our loved ones."