The phone at Andrus Outdoors in Dickinson has been ringing every three minutes with someone looking to purchase a firearm.
With the holidays right around the corner, firearm sales in Dickinson have gone through the roof, but residents believe it isn't just because of the holiday.
"Everything is getting pretty crazy and I've never seen anything like this," said Greg Knutson, the owner of Andrus Outdoors. "I've talked to a couple salesmen that we purchase our firearms from and they've never seen it like this either. It's the craziest it's ever been."
After the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., which killed 26 people including 20 children, President Barack Obama brought forth a piece of legislation that would impose a gun ban and new gun control laws. The ban is mainly on assault weapons like the AR-15.
However, Knutson said people are going to have a tough time finding assault rifles in the state.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Every store from here to Fargo doesn't have one in their store," he said. "All of our suppliers are sold out of them. Everyone in North Dakota is looking for them. Basically a lot of people are trying to get one, while they can still get one."
However, there are still people looking to give firearms as a holiday gift.
"I think there's that to some extent," Dickinson resident Dan Brown said. "There's some of that every Christmas."
Blaine Dukart, a Dickinson resident, said if he didn't have all the caliber he needed, he'd be in line with everyone else.
"I'd be doing the exact same thing," he said. "People are worried about what is going to happen and that's why people are buying them like crazy right now. If I didn't have all the guns I needed, I'd be uptown."
"People are buying them because they are afraid the government will say law-abiding citizens can't own them," Brown added.
Knutson said there are probably 5,000 to 6,000 assault rifles in Dickinson.
"If someone wants an AR, they'll go buy one from a friend, relative or someone that has one for sale," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Andrus Outdoors has received calls from nearly every town in North Dakota and has sold guns to people from Dickinson, Minot and Bismarck. Knutson said it's been a tough couple of days.
"It's not fun," he said. "Our phone has been ringing nearly every three minutes."
Not only are firearms flying off the shelves, but people are stocking up on ammunition too.
Andrus Outdoors might be seeing an increase in firearm sales, but Decker Gun Company hasn't seen much of an increase. Decker Gun Company doesn't stock any assault rifles, so customers have to special order those firearms.
"We have (seen an increase) for Christmas a little, but it's nothing unusual" said Ed Decker, co-owner of Decker Gun Company.