Local gun stores are reporting a spike in sales, especially the sale of semiautomatic weapons, since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and as a federal task force works on possible gun violence solutions.

Jason Gregory, who manages Gretna Gun Works, Inc., tells 99.5FM he believes the current run on semiautomatic weapons, in particular the AR-15 assault rifle, is motivated by fear.

"Since the political reaction from the Democrats to that event (Sandy Hook) has caused gun sales to go completely through the roof. Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it before," Gregory said.

"Fueling the sale is the fear that the people have that there's going to be some type of restriction that's going to cause them not to be able to get these type of guns and weapons."

Gregory says the "hot" seller is the AR-15 semiautomatic military-style assault rifle and the ammo that goes with it, including high-capacity magazines. Customers are also buying up semiautomatic handguns.

Gregory says he can't get any AR-15s right now because his suppliers are out. Because of the high demand and the low supply, he expects these weapons to be snatched up as soon as they're produced and available.