Over at Bob's Little Sport Shop in Glassboro, business has never been better. Watch video
As the national debate over gun laws has raged the past several years, gun ownership has skyrocketed in South Jersey, according to officials.
Permits have been on the rise, gun store business has been strong and, following the recent announcement of executive action by President Barack Obama on the matter, interest in gun ownership has only increased.
"Since he's been president there have been more people out to get permits to purchase because of some of the stringent laws," said Chief Jody Farabella of Millville Police Department. "Some people are frightened they aren't going to be able to purchase them."
According to Farabella, his department has five-to-seven people a day come in for applications.
Over at Bob's Little Sport Shop in Glassboro, business has never been better.
The increase in gun ownership is directly related to people's trust in the government, said owner Bob Viden Sr.
"Many of them feel like they are afraid of their own government and that's a shame," Viden said Wednesday in his store. "They are afraid they don't have the protection they need and want a gun to protect their family."
In the past decade, more than 100,000 people have been killed due to gun violence, hundreds of thousands of people committed suicide with guns and nearly 500,000 people were injured by guns, according to the White House. The president's plan would focus on background checks, track illegal firearm trafficking online, allow information about a person's mental health to be more accessible for gun possession purposes and sponsor research for gun safety technology.
At police departments across South Jersey, firearm applications have been increasing.
In Pennsville, there were only three a month in 2008. Now, there are more than 30 a month, according to Chief A.J. Cummings.
It's also a stress on personnel.
"We just can't keep up with the demand," Cummings said.
The influx of permits has taken a toll on Millville police, with approximately $500 in man-hours going toward each permit.
"With our current manpower, it's a strain on Millville Police Department -- it always has been," Farabella said. "We just don't have the personnel."
According to Jim Price, who was at Bob's Little Sport Shop for a hunting license Wednesday, background checks are important nationally.
"I feel there should be stricter background checks on different types of guns," Price said. "I strongly believe in the Second Amendment, we should have guns, but they should be cracking down a bit on people's backgrounds -- which this state does."
Mike Taylor was also at Bob's Little Sport Shop and felt New Jersey's regulations are adequate -- if not a little stringent
"As long as the regulations are kept in place I don't see it being a problem," Taylor said. "Most of the tings that are happening are people using unregulated weapons."
What's the biggest problem involved with gun ownership?
"The biggest thing is people taking care of their guns properly and storing them properly so kids don't have access to them and people with mental disorders don't have access to them," Taylor said.
According to Farabella, he would like to see more training involved with gun purchasing.
"A firearm is a very dangerous piece of machinery and tool," Farabella said. "There should be some training that goes along with that for a first-time purchase.
"They can have it for the range or self protection but they have to know how to use it," he added.
At Bob's Little Sport Shop, explained Viden, they encourage such training.
"It's important to teach those things so you don't have an accident," Viden said. "You don't want a gun in your house if you don't know what you're doing. You wouldn't buy a car and plan a trip to California if you didn't know how to drive. It's the same thing with a gun, if you don't now how to handle it you shouldn't have it in your house."
It's this kind of responsible gun owners that's the most important part of gun safety, Viden explained, and executive actions won't help the problem.
Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.