Weapons sales are now soaring in Austria as citizens of the small nation become cautious over the number of refugees crowding into their country.
In a country of 8.5 million people, there are now an estimated 900,000 firearms in homes.
And gun dealers report that it is women driving the sales rush. This year alone, police say 70,000 guns have been sold.
‘Virtually all shotguns are currently sold out, because you need no permit for them’, said Thomas Ortner, spokesman for an arms dealer in Upper Austria.
For every other type of weapon, a licence is required.
Licence courses, in which applicants must demonstrate knowledge of firearms, used to take place every five weeks but they are now held weekly because of spiking demand.
In cities like Salzburg, a line of people outside the necessary government office to get the paperwork to buy a gun is now an everyday sight.
Broadcasters and local media say the numbers of refugees – coupled with a fear of break-ins as a result – is fuelling the arms race.
‘Because of the social change, people want to protect themselves,’ one arms dealer told the broadcaster oe.24. He said ‘many women’ were among his customers.
The flood of ‘refugees’ into Austria is continuing without interruption.
Dealers reported that women are also driving up sales of pepper spray because of their fears for personal security in the midst of the great migration of refugees heading to Germany.
