Gary Humphreys has owned and operated Humphreys’ Gun Shop in Del Rio, Texas, since 1973, giving him not only job security but also a unique perspective on trends when it comes to firearm sales and the community. The seasoned store owner says he’s seen a significant increase in gun purchases as border issues continue to impact the local area.
“Since this border opened up, we’re getting new people that never owned guns coming in and buying them,” Humphreys said, speaking with Fox News Digital about the border crisis in his own backyard and how it has affected business. Humphreys also discussed a segment of clientele that has increased noticeably since the Biden/Harris border policies were implemented.
“Getting a lot of women that never owned a gun before coming in and buying them,” he said, adding that women are mostly seeking to purchase handguns for self-defense.
While fallout from the border crisis can be seen all over the country, Humphreys points out that, “people that don’t live on the border don’t realize what is really happening,” telling reporters that this crisis has been ongoing for more than three years since President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office. Residents living along the border overwhelmingly support former President Trump in the upcoming election, expecting more of the same, if not worse if Harris returns to the White House as Commander in Chief.
”One hundred percent Trump,” Humpherys says enthusiastically.
“It’s pretty scary out there,” Humphreys told Fox News Digital, having had his own front door broken down by criminals, an incident all too familiar in gun stores across America right now, with concentrated incidents unfolding currently in Colorado where migrant prison gangs are using minors to crash stolen cars into gun shops and other stores in coordinated smash-and-grab attacks.
Texas is not the only border state seeing this trend, as earlier this year the New York Post reported that Californians were buying up firearms at an increased rate after border patrol began releasing massive numbers of migrants onto their local streets. Due to sanctuary city policies, however, many migrants have flocked to other states as well, spreading out across the country in places like New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Washington and Oregon.
A Fox News survey last month revealed that concern about the border has increased notably since February, +20 points among those under 30, +19 among Black voters, +14 for Democrats in general, +12 with Hispanic voters, and +12 among women. The survey also addresses immigration and border security policy ideas, finding 63% in favor of deporting illegal immigrants, up from 52% favoring it when the question was first asked in 2015. On the question of who is more trusted when it comes to taking on border policy between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, Trump was the overwhelming winner with a 19-point lead.
Harris, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, indicated she would sign a bipartisan Senate border bill, which many conservatives scoff at as ineffective, and for good reason. The bill, while requiring hundreds of millions in unspent tax dollars to be used on the border wall, provided no additional funding to secure its completion according to Harris’ advisers. Perhaps this half-measure approach explains why Trump also did not lend his support to the bill.
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