Checking in with...The Grant Boys:

Jack Carver has been general manager of the local gun, clothes and camping gear shop the Grant Boys, on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, for decades. While the market for camping gear and firearms has remained in flux over the years, the Grant Boys has maintained a large, loyal customer base. The store carries more Ugg boots than they know what to do with.

Why is there such a run on guns and ammo lately?

Fear of possible legislation that’s going to interfere with it. It kind of snowballs. Some person goes to a store to buy a box of ammo. They don’t have any ammo. So they go to four or five stores and can’t buy a box of a simple caliber. So they go to a store where they find it, and they buy five. Spread that across the whole nation, and the supply just got sucked up.

What kind of guns would you picture certain celebrities with? Like Britney Spears?

A pink-handled little semi-auto. A beretta tomcat. Even though they don’t make that in pink, she could afford to have them make it.

Frank Sinatra, if he were still around today?

A nickel-plated, pearl-handled .38 revolver. Because it’s classy.

Umm…how about someone unassuming. Tom Hanks. What kind of gun would Tom Hanks carry?

A large .45 auto handgun. Reason?

Please.

Because you wouldn’t expect that of him. I think that there’s a lot to him. He’s a complicated man, and I love that about him, and there’s more to know about him.

When Bugs Bunny sticks his hand in a rifle, it blows up in Elmer Fudd’s face. What would actually happen? Is that a good idea?

Heck no! That’s not a good idea. You’ll lose your hand. And the gun will probably do something similar to what the cartoons show.

The gun is going to suffer some sort of damage because that bullet wants to go someplace. You’re going to slow it down but not stop it. The pressure can’t tolerate any hesitation. It’ll probably burst the barrel.

The gun is going to get damaged as well as, very likely, the shooter, who will be injured in the face or upper torso.

That bullet is going down at 1,200 to 1,300 feet per second. It’ll explode the barrel.

Good point. Do you think Superman really is faster than a speeding bullet?

He’s asked me not to comment [laughs].

Does the size of the gun really matter?

Yes, it really does matter. In every way. Whether it’s hunting or home defense. We’re talking calibers.

Home defense is a common thing. Yes, a .22 can be lethal. But it’s not a high percentage. In a defense situation, you shouldn’t be pulling out a gun unless your life depends on it.

If you have to pull a gun, if you have to pull the trigger, pull the trigger, intend to kill. Don’t do it to scare them away. If you hit them with a .22 and it doesn’t knock them down, their adrenaline is going and now they have Superman strength and can take that gun away from you possibly. And empty it into you.

You guys ever been robbed?

You mean a daytime armed robbery?

Right.

No. You’ve got to be an idiot to try and hold up a gun shop. Though criminals aren’t known for their brains. Even if they’re armed, what is their chance of surviving?

What is their chance of surviving?

I would say zero.

Grant Boys

Website: www.grantboys.com

Address: 1750 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa

Call: (949) 645-3400