CIVICS LESSON

Gun buffs are buying lock, stock and barrel

A presidential portrait adorns the corridor between the gun shop and firing range at the Bullet Hole, a Belleville landmark.

Out front, rifles line the wall, muzzles pointed skyward. Revolvers sit in locked glass cases, some basic black, others fashion pink. Old Glory is everywhere, along with military flags, eagle murals and other patriotic decor.

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerSteve Elber, from Montclair, fires a 357 Smith & Wesson, while target shooting at the Bullet Hole, a gun shop and indoor range in Belleville. Gun sales have been up since the election, as firearm owners stock up in fear of federal bans on weapons.

Owner Manny Cerca says the country is facing an identity crisis and he's weary of change. That's why President Obama isn't the leader in the picture atop the doorway.

Cerca still looks up to a photo of George W. Bush.

"I'm fed up with the new administration," says Cerca, 64, and especially concerned about his Second Amendment right to own a gun. "Obama is a European socialist."

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