Fearful Southerners buy firearms at torrid pace

Lisa Anderson:

Gun sales across the South boomed after the first reports surfaced of armed looters roaming the streets of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And images of shots being fired at relief workers only elevated fears in some communities.

Now, as hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes are being resettled, gun store owners say they're being flooded by a demand for guns--particularly in Southern states and others where many of the hurricane victims are being relocated.

Mostly, they say, the demand is being fueled by "good people" wanting to protect their families and property. That includes some who might not otherwise purchase such weapons, they add.

Frank Pirie says his Baton Rouge store, Bowie Outfitters, is being inundated by people seeking handguns and shotguns in the storm's aftermath. "It's probably as many as we'd sell in almost a year," he said.

On Wednesday morning he sold handguns to three nurses who were working in downtown New Orleans. Pirie also gave them shooting lessons, he said.

The nurses told Pirie they were "going back into a war zone," he said. "They weren't going back without protection."

But sales are particularly brisk among men and women in Baton Rouge who are growing concerned about a wave of newcomers into their community--most of whom arrive with little more than the clothes on their back.

"They're saying this is racist, ma'am, but that's not true," said Pirie, adding that in recent days he has sold guns to both whites and blacks.

"People are just nervous. There is a certain element that was down in New Orleans that has been displaced." Among the good people, he and others fear, is a criminal element that includes drug dealers who have lost their jobs and people who steal for a living.

Traffic, long lines and gun sales in Baton Rouge