Gun shops across the country have been reporting record levels of sales for firearms and ammunition for months now, but demand seems to have spiked even higher in the Kenosha, Wisconsin area after nearly a week of protests and violence rocked the city in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha PD officer.

According to TMZ, store shelves that were already pretty picked over have been cleared out completely in the area, with thousands of residents expressing a desire to purchase a firearm for self-defense.

Joseph LaJoy, owner of LaJoy Precision Inc in nearby Pleasant Prairie, WI, tells TMZ … he completely sold out of every handgun, shotgun, and all ammunition after fielding at least 150 phone calls per day in the wake Blake’s shooting.

LaJoy says the majority of sales were from people who did not previously own guns or ammo, and they’re looking to protect themselves and their homes.

Note who LaJoy’s customers are at the moment: mostly people who’ve never before purchased a firearm. And they’re not arming up to take to the streets, but to protect their homes.

Meanwhile, at Red Dot in Lake Villa, IL near where “vigilante” shooter Kyle Rittenhousehails, the gun store manager tells us they sold nearly 100 firearms in a single day this week, and they’re getting close to selling out completely.

We’re told folks were frantic and scared coming into Red Dot, and many became upset when they learned there’s a 72-hour waiting period to obtain a firearm in Illinois.

Over at 5 Star Firearms in Zion, IL, the manager, Clinton, tells TMZ … the store is sold out of all rifles, handguns and ammo, and it only took 2 days to clear the shelves.

Clinton says thousands of people were coming in … saying they’re looking to protect their businesses and homes. Most customers lived in Kenosha and Lake County, where Rittenhouse is from.

Given the long delays at the moment for FOID card applications in Illinois, I’m guessing that most of the customers in Lake County, IL are either existing gun owners or people who made the decision to purchase their first firearm several months ago.

Any Illinois resident who just decided last week that they want to exercise their Second Amendment rights are going to be facing bigger issues than a three-day waiting period at the moment. It’s going to take months just for them to get their permission slip from the state of Illinois to be able to legally possess a gun. Hopefully these new and would-be gun owners remember in November the state-imposed delays preventing them from lawfully acquiring a firearm in August, and vote for the candidates that will support their Second Amendment rights instead of trying to infringe on them instead.