LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Regular deer hunting season begins Saturday, which should mean a busy week for outdoor stores, but one shop owner feels ammunition background checks have reduced her number of shoppers.
“It’s calmer, not as many people as we normally see this week,” said owner of Johnson’s Country Store in Lockport Carly Short. “This should be our hopping time of the year, [where] everybody is excited about it and coming in, but it’s just not the same.”
Short feels that ever since New York implemented ammunition background checks on September 13, her store has had a different feel.
She shared that normally the days right before deer season are the busiest times of the year, but on Thursday afternoon, just two days before regular hunting season for deer begins, there was just a handful of people inside.
“I think a lot of them have already came in early and bought what they needed.”
Several of the hunters inside the store said that they planned ahead and bought their ammo months ago, before the background checks were a requirement.
“I got mine quite some time ago,” said Dave Denny.
“I’m happy I did [buy ammo],” said Christopher Papiernik.
In the summer, Randall Burley will shoot hundreds of rounds in a trap shooting league, but now, he feels forced to save what he has left over.
“I’m taking the winter off from trap shooting, I don’t want to deplete what I have,” Burley said. “To go through another background check is just plain stupid.”
Short tells me wait times for background check approval have been unpredictable and can take up to two to three days to approve.
“I tell people there’s good days and bad days,” Short said. “We will have a whole day where everybody gets ‘proceeds’ and everybody is happy... The next day, every single person is a ‘delay’.”
New York State Police run the background checks and sent a statement about wait times that said:
"Firearms and ammunition checks are handled in an accurate and timely manner. The NYS NICS unit processes transactions immediately. However, some responses will take longer than others depending on the amount of research required."
Short recommends all hunters get their ammunition orders in now, or else delays could force them to miss the start of deer hunting season.
“As soon as you can get in, get what you need and get that background check in.”
