Josh Snow showed up hours before Wichita's Thunderbird Tactical gun store's 10 a.m. open time Saturday.
"You've got to get here early," Snow said. "I got here at about 7:30 a.m."
He didn't want to take a risk he wouldn't have the opportunity to buy ammunition and magazines that are now hard to come by thanks to a rush on gun supplies seen in Kansas and across the nation.
"There's a hype going around. There's an ammo shortage and (you) can't get any mags," Snow said. "This seems to be only store around here that has them."
Saturday morning Snow was one of about 20 people in line when the store opened at 10 a.m. in hopes of getting their hands on part of the store's latest shipment. Once they were let inside, it didn't take long for the cash registers to start ringing.
Store owner Ryan Pennock says this has become a regular occurrence. In fact, he says, many mornings after he's announced on the store's Facebook page that they have a new shipment, there are three to four times as many people rearing to go.
He says their biggest day is normally Saturday but last Wednesday morning they had more than 50 people lined up before the store opened.
"It can get pretty crazy," Pennock said.
But he says it's not as crazy here in Kansas as it once was. He says that's because there is no negative gun legislation having success in the state legislature at the moment.
"Locally, people are starting to calm a little bit," Pennock said.
Even so, it is still busy. He says that's because many of the people locally have already purchased their new firearms but now they want the ammunition to go with it.
He says he expects the demand for ammunition to continue throughout the year. And, he says, he doesn't think we've seen the last of the big gun sales.
"I believe there are several more waves of the firearm buying coming," Pennock said.
For Josh Snow and others, that likely means they will have to continue with their early-bird strategy for some time to come if they want the guns and ammunition they desire.
"I'm not going to make any mistake," Snow said. "If I get here early, I get my stuff. That's just how it goes."
