People are panicking a little - unnecessarily in my view, but understandable - and are swamping gun stores trying to purchase guns before Congress and the president make it harder to do so.

This from Instapundit:

"People were crowded five deep at the tiny counter of a gun shop near Atlanta, where a pastor from Knoxville, Tenn., was among the customers who showed up in person after the store's Web site halted sales because of low inventory. . . . December set a record for the criminal background checks performed before many gun purchases, a strong indication of a big increase in sales, according to an analysis of federal data by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group."

UPDATE: Reader Ron Oglesby writes from Illinois:

Stopped at the local shop in Plainfield, Illinois today. Its so crazy in there they have had to create new rules. New hours are 9am-2pm for purchases and looking at guns. 2pm-6pm for picking up ONLY. If you are not picking up you can't come in!

They have a good selection of ammo but you can only buy 5 boxes for any given caliber and. . . When I left there were 17 people waiting to talk to a rifle sales rep and a waiting list for a 12 lane range that was in double digits!!! I have been coming to this store for 10 years and have never seen it like this. All of this in one of the most un-friendly states for guns in the US!!! Change!!!

Pretty incredible.