Bushmaster Rifle Prices Rise After Connecticut Shooting
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) - Sen. Diane Feinstein is among those calling for more gun control as demand for bushmaster assault rifles skyrocket.
The price for a bushmaster has gone up by as much as 50 percent since Friday. The AR-15 assault rifle is the most popular style of rifle to buy, usually used for target practice or hunting small game. But, it was also a killer's weapon of choice to gun down 26 people in Connecticut.
Now gun shop owners say it will cost a lot more. The AR-15 is now in the crosshairs of people calling for more gun control.
"Everything that seems to be done politically just increases demand," gun owner Bob Raetz said.
The owner of Discount Shooter Supply in Roseville says since Friday's massacre more and more people are coming out to buy it, driving the prices up.
"The price of these is going to go up at least 25 percent, and the parts are going up 50 percent. So, to build a rifle, it'll cost 50 percent more as early as next year," owner Rob Frates said.
Frates says AR-15s are usually built to the owner's specifications, and many of the parts are already selling out online.
Frates says the price jump is a run on guns fueled by fear these rifles will soon be illegal.
"It's a common reaction and I don't think any gun owner believes it was the gun's fault," said Raetz.
Unlike handguns, Frates says you don't need to register each long gun you own with a serial number.
"Currently, you can purchase as many of these as you wish. There's only one form to fill out," said Frates.
But he says come next year, that will change with legislation that was already in place.
"Each one of these will now cost $25 to register," said Frates.
Meanwhile, some gun owners aren't taking any chances and are stocking up now before it's too late.
"They'll make them harder to get perhaps, but California is already very restrictive," said Raetz.
Frates believes the prices will just continue to rise as more and more people keep buying up all the guns and ammunition.
