Pearson said he knows of some Illinois gun shops that are limiting the number of rounds of ammunition per purchase so the most panicked people don’t hoard the supply.

Feagans recalled the last time his shop was this busy was in 2013, when people were worried that governments would restrict access to guns after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.

“It’s got to be almost a record,” he said.

Recent numbers for FOID card applications and concealed carry license applications were not immediately available because ISP is “operating on essential personnel only” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson said.

Capitol News Illinois is awaiting response to a submitted Freedom of Information Act request for the data. Multiple calls Wednesday to the firearm services bureau were answered by a recorded message that said the bureau was “experiencing a high call volume.”

A Tuesday article from Time magazine said specific data on the size of the nationwide surge in gun sales will not be available until April, but the article noted that FBI background checks are “up considerably” over last January and February.

Illinois’ minimum age for buying a firearm is 18 for long guns and 21 for handguns and pistols.