The election of the nation's first democratic president in eight years and the country's economic turmoil is prompting more people to take up arms, according to local gun rights supporters.

The promoter of the West's largest gun and ammunition expo said that attendance at some shows across the nation has increased by 50 percent to 100 percent. He expected attendance of about 12,000 for this weekend's show at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, compared to a typical crowd of around 9,000. The show will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

"Sales at shows, particularly in the area of ammunition, semi-automatic so-called assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, is probably up 50 to 100 percent," added Bob Templeton, president of the National Association of Arms Shows and promoter of the Crossroads of the West Gun Show.

He added that sales have increased despite the fact that high demand has doubled prices for some weapons in recent months.

Templeton, who said that he puts on 52 Crossroads of the West shows annually, said the number of vendors requesting tables at this show jumped 20 percent for this weekend. He also said that he is getting many more inquiries regarding his other shows in Nevada, California and Arizona.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported getting more than 374,000 requests for background checks on gun buyers for the week of Nov. 3 to 9, a 49 percent increase over the same period last year.

Templeton and other local gun-rights supporters attributed the increased interest in guns to the election of Barack Obama as president and the slumping economy.

"There is a concern on the part of people who are worried they are going to be taxed or regulated more strictly than we have been," Templeton said.

The head of the Utah Sports Shooting Council said that the uncertainty in the economy is also influencing the number of people who are stocking up on firearms and ammunition.

"They believe that the prices may go up a lot more than they already are at right now," said Clark Aposhian.

"There is also uncertainty in the political climate with regards to firearms," he said. "History will show, I believe, that different presidents and different administrations tend to curtail certain types of firearms."

Aposhian said that Democratic administrations have given the impression to gun owners that they want to ban certain types of weapons. He said that he doesn't believe that there would be an outright ban on guns but that there would be "severe restrictions heaped on top of other restrictions" that would "effectively ban certain types of weapons."

Bill Scott, a member of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, said that Obama has indicated on his Web site that his administration would target semi-automatic "assault weapons," such as M-16 rifles. But Scott said that labeling certain weapons is just a ploy to make them seem more dangerous than they really are in an effort to restrict law-abiding Americans from purchasing them.

"I think there is going to be a big backlash," Scott said.

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