SAN ANTONIO — Texas gun sales are on the rise.
“Generally, this time of year, we do see a spike in online sales due to the holidays,” said Jason Meza, regional director for the Better Business Bureau.
According to the FBI’s website, this year in Texas, 1,922,440 people have submitted background checks to be able to buy firearms. That’s up over 400,000 people from 2019, and that number is still growing.
But with the surge in sales comes new concerns.
“We’ve seen a pattern of fraudulent sellers and resellers come through the past three or four months here at the BBB,” Meza said.
He says that, because of the pandemic, the amount of people buying guns online has gone up as well—as have online schemes.
“The thing about going online is you need to be wary of product claims; anybody can claim anything online, especially with firearms,” Meza said.
It's a problem Bexar County is seeing locally. On Monday, a federal grand jury indicted a Cibolo man on 12 counts of wire fraud after they say his business, Bullit Proof Arms, failed to deliver firearms to buyers.
Meza says there are some things you can do to avoid being a victim of a firearms scheme. For one, be wary of any unsolicited offers you may get. Also, always verify a seller’s reviews and reputation. Make sure the seller has accurate contact information, and use a credit to pay if possible.
“We don’t want these bad actors in our area, much less in the country, so report them," Mesa recommended. "BBB’s scam tracker works 24 hours a day to help pin point where the scammers are."