COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is planning to ask lawmakers for $500,000 to help it more quickly process the huge backlog of background checks for gun buyers.
After the school shooting in Newtown, Ct the agency has been swamped.
According to the Denver Post, in November, it took an average of 23 minutes for a gun buyer in Colorado to get a criminal-background check.
The wait time now has stretched to nearly a week as the CBI stuggles with the backlog of more than 11,000 applications.
The larger number of background checks mean gun dealers are seeing increased business in Colorado Springs.
So much, that one local store is running out of merchandise.
"[Customers are] concerned that there might be increased requirements or fees, or registration or something and they want guns before whatever fees kick in," Paul Paradis, of Paradise Sales said.
Paradise Sales is selling six times the guns they normally do with 30 firearms sold every day.
Owner Paul Paradis said there's no rhyme or reason for what's being sold but handguns sell three times as fast as the long guns.
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," Wayne LaPierre, Chief Executive of the National Rifle Association said in a December 21st press conference.
After the mass shooting in Newtown, CT and the NRA pushing for armed officers at every school, the demand for firearms is one Paradise Sales can't keep up with.
"The other thing is manufacturers are backed up for months in some cases a year and they can't get merchandise to replace what we've sold," Paradis said.
13 Colorado mayors including Manitou Springs' Marc Snyder have already signed a letter written by Mayors Against Illegal Guns asking President Obama for gun law reform.
So as the gun law discussion heats up, the rush for product continues.
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