Scott Herd didn’t especially like the prospects of Democrats controlling the White House and Congress.So, the 37-year-old Noblesville resident did something about it. He bought a gun.Why? Because he fears President-elect Barack Obama and Congress will go after his Second Amendment right to bear arms.He’s not alone.Across Indiana and from coast to coast, people are snapping up guns and ammo.“You just never know what’s going to happen after an election,” said Herd, who bought a .357-caliber handgun. “You got a Democrat-controlled House, Democrat president. You just never know.”Fear of that unknown has led to this: The FBI reports that background checks for gun purchases soared 49 percent during election week compared with the same week in 2007, and they were up 41 percent from Nov. 1 to Nov. 22 compared with the same time last year.The recent surge in gun sales has helped drive up purchases of firearms and ammunition by 8 percent to 10 percent this year, according to federal data — and that’s at a time when the economy has stalled sales of virtually everything else.In Indiana, 286,291 people have active firearm permits, said Lt. Jerry A. Berkey of the Indiana State Police. Not every gun owner in Indiana, however, is required to get a permit.It’s clear, Berkey said, that gun purchases are on the rise: “We started to see an increase around the time of the election.”There is also ample anecdotal evidence at local gun shops.“People are worried,” said Miles Wyatt, owner of Wyatt’s Sporting Goods in Cicero. “Sales doubled as soon as it looked like Obama was going to win the election.”Wyatt said some of his customers are people who have never owned guns. He recites this common refrain: “I don’t like firearms, but I’m getting one before Obama tells me I can’t have one.”But are those fears founded?Obama’s position, stated during a debate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is this: “As a general principle, I believe the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms, but just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can’t constrain the exercise of that right.”Later, he elaborated: “I have never favored all-out bans on handguns. What I think we can provide is common-sense approaches to the issue of illegal guns that are ending up on the streets. We can make sure criminals don’t have guns in their hands. We can make certain that those who are mentally deranged are not getting ahold of handguns. We can trace guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers that may be selling them to straw purchasers and dumping them on the streets.”As an Illinois state senator, Obama supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restriction on all firearms. His campaign pledge was “common-sense” gun control.“Gun owners simply don’t believe the campaign promise,” said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association.“I think he’s (Obama) a liar,” said gun collector Scott Schramm, 37, Indianapolis. “He says he’s a friend of gun owners and stands for the Second Amendment. Any time he had an opportunity to vote, he voted to outlaw guns and automatic weapons.”But all this concern has led to what the Rev. A. Thomas Hill calls an overreaction — a “panic” mentality — that could unintentionally result in more gun violence.“When we react out of panic for whatever reason, it potentially leads to carelessness,” said Hill, who as pastor of Healing Streams Word & Worship Center in Indianapolis is active in trying to end gun violence in the city through his drive-by prayer vigils. “The panic: We buy up as many guns as we can. It goes beyond the purchaser of the gun. They have kids; they have relatives. And their hands may be good hands, but those connected with them who have access to the guns are the problem.”Hill would like to see stricter gun laws as well as requirements that gun owners have some level of training in using a weapon. But if Congress does propose stricter gun legislation, it’s assumed the focus will again be on assault rifles.President Bill Clinton signed a 10-year ban on assault-type weapons in 1994, but that legislation lapsed and was not re-enacted.Mike Hilton, who operates Popguns Family Indoor Shooting Range in Indianapolis, said all 50 of its AR-15-type semiautomatic rifles were sold within a day of the election. The AR-15 is the civilian version of the fully automatic M4 assault rifle the military uses in Afghanistan and Iraq.“We can’t keep any AR-15s in stock,” he said. “Home-defense shotguns are disappearing, too.”Bushmaster Firearms in Windham, Maine, which exclusively manufactures AR-15-type semiautomatic rifles, has had “an influx in orders” since the presidential election, said Alfred Russo, the company’s marketing director.“We’re doing everything we can to try to keep up with the demand,” he said. “We currently have a backlog” for the AR-15s, which sell for $900 to $1,200.Russo, also the spokesman for Remington Arms Co. in Madison, N.C., which manufactures shotguns and hunting rifles and their ammunition, said that side of the business has not increased but is “doing well.”But Wyatt and other gun shop owners insist that this latest run on guns goes well beyond assault-type weapons."Whatever grocery list people had in mind for some point in the future, they’re saying: ‘We better go do it right now,’ " Wyatt said.Wyatt, 56, Noblesville, spent the past three weekends scouring the Internet for handguns, holsters, rifles, shotguns, hearing protection and other supplies. “Zero, zero, zero” is what he found. “The distributors have very little of anything in stock,” he said.Roby Ahnert, the owner of Roby’s Bullseye Outdoors in Kokomo, said the election — and the economy — have created a remarkable turn-around.“I can’t remember a week we’ve had that strong,” said Ahnert, who reported record sales during election week.The shop’s display walls of 400 to 500 new and used guns had been full all the way through summer, especially when gas was up to $4 a gallon, he said.“I was buying guns from people because they needed cash,” said Ahnert, 49. “Now, gas prices are down, and people are afraid if they get rid of their guns, they won’t get them back.”Craig Robbins, 27, Muncie, was among those motivated by the election.“When I knew it was going to be that close, I decided to make a purchase,” said Robbins, who bought a Glock 23 semiautomatic pistol for personal protection and is teaching his wife, Audrey Robbins, 26, to use it.“Every homeowner should have a gun in their house,” Craig Robbins said. He thinks Congress should create a tax deduction for gun owners.Paul Helmke has a different hope: He would like Obama to push for and sign “common-sense laws on guns.”Helmke, a three-time mayor of Fort Wayne, is president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a 25-year-old nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.“This whole spike in gun sales is a little ridiculous,” Helmke saidHe said although the NRA’s $10 million advertising campaign failed to scare people away from voting for Obama, the campaign was successful in making more money for gun dealers.Helmke said the Brady Campaign isn’t anti-gun. “We just want to make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous guns.”Though some might be concerned that the surge in gun sales could bring a spike in gun crimes, Indianapolis police don’t expect that to be the case.“We’re not really concerned,” said Sgt. Paul Thompson, public information officer for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. “Guns that are being sold through gun stores are going through the screening processes.”I don’t think anybody has a problem with a proper person being in possession with a firearm as long they have the proper training and understand the responsibilities and laws that accompany gun ownership.“Thompson certainly doesn’t have any such problem. He answered questions recently while shooting targets at Popguns — with his 19-year-old daughter Lauren, who was browsing the racks for her first gun.Lauren Thompson said having a gun will make her feel safer.”I’m not sure exactly what his (Obama’s) plans are with the whole gun thing," she said. “If he is planning on doing something, I’d like to do something now.”