Updated: 1/14/2003 10:22 AM
By: Stacy Neumann & Web Staff

You don’t have to look too closely in Fayetteville to know
Fort Bragg deployments are on the rise. Car sales are
slowing. Military surplus stores are doing big business and
many other stores are wondering what will happen if mass
numbers of troops leave town.

An intruder brutally murdered Angela Mosden in her blackbird
road home last March. Her soldier husband was away at the
time, serving in Afghanistan. It is a worst case scenario
for any person who has been in the military, called to duty
far away from home.

“There’s a self protection component,” Retired U.S. Army
Officer A.D. Ackles said. “You can’t help but worry about
the family you left behind and what conceivably might go
wrong.”

One of Fayetteville’s most prominent gun shops said that
concern is what’s fueling some of their sales lately. Since
news of deployments began filtering out, more than two times
the normal number of females are shopping the aisles.

“Last time we had a large deployment, there was an increase
in violent crime and sexual assault so a lot of women are
coming in now having heard that and they want to prepare in
case something like that happens again,” Jim”s Pawn Shop
Co-Manager Jo Faircloth said.

Employees at Jim’s Pawn Shop said what they are seeing is
strikingly similar to what they saw during the buildup of
the Persian Gulf War. Military couples are coming in to
shop for weapons.

As a matter of fact, they now have a female instructor
permanently on their staff to make military spouses more
comfortable with safety techniques.

“We try to get them a gun they’re comfortable with and let
them practice with it,” Faircloth said. “We make sure it’s
the right size and it’s not too powerful for them.”

Those associated with the military said the decision can
provide the service member and a properly trained spouse
with peace of mind.

“Military towns historically, I think, have had a little
higher crime rates than ordinary communities,” Ackles said.
“There a sense that you left your family vulnerable,
particularly young soldiers with young children,
particularly a spouse that isn’t familiar with firearms.”

Managers said the overwhelming choice of spouses who are
buying weapons for personal protection is a revolver.