Jared Coffey, a 39-year-old serial entrepreneur, opened Guns N More at 281 Celtic Road in eastern Howe in April 2018 and as any new small business, began to advertise and market to a new client base. But in March, his business began to skyrocket due to the uneasiness of COVID-19.
“In one day, we did $24,000 (of sales) in March,” said Coffey. “That was the first day the FBI database was overwhelmed so we had 37 transactions in two hours and all of them denied.”
Due to the FBI being overwhelmed, they contacted gun distributors and told them to place all orders in delayed status. Coffey said he had items that were in delayed status that he did not figure would otherwise have sold for 15 years.
Coffey and co-owner Alan Austin were processing all down payments and all full orders, FBI notifications, and customer communications between the two of them. The 37 transactions in that first hour turned into 800 for the month.
“It was crazy,” said Coffey. “It just compounded from there. I was being searched (online) more than Dairy Queen.”
After the initial surge in March, things leveled off, but orders are steadily increasing.
“We sold out the whole shop in three weeks,” said Coffey. “We replenished it and shut down for about three days to re-price and regroup.”
Coffey began to set his alarm at 1 a.m. each day to purchase ammunition online and 4 a.m. each day to purchases guns online to restock the shelves. He would then wake up at 6:30 a.m. to start his other businesses and open the gun shop at 8 a.m.
“It’s kind of been like that, but now it’s only one or so nights a week to get up at 4 a.m. to buy ammo, but that has since stalled. There’s nothing (to purchase).”
All the creativity of purchasing at odd times and purchasing from Canada and importing items are no longer options as the suppliers are now dry.
“There’s nothing. Buying from the fat guy in Indiana in his basement or whatever is gone. It’s all made full-circle and it’s all gone,” said Coffey. “I have more guns than five Academies right now.”
He says before the election, things looked like they were going to calm down and everyone was stocked up on their ammo, but all things changed after the election.
“No one anticipated all this rigged stuff,” said Coffey. “We all knew it was coming, but we didn’t think they’d get away with it. So, it has since kicked back into gear and the problem is there are 62 trillion allocations on ammunition. That’s impossible to produce.”
Coffey says producers are stockpiling ammo and not distributing it. Once they reset the allocations, they will then disperse.
“I think that’s going to be determined once we determine who the president’s going to be,” said Coffey. “But for now, everyone’s just going to have to fend for themselves. It’s the same thing as toilet paper.”
Currently, there is no lag for those wanting to purchase a gun. Coffey says those that pass the FBI forms with a “squeaky clean record” will have no problems. But if the purchase is on a Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., one would be put into delayed status due to the FBI overload.
“There are three parts of the process—proceed, deny, or delay,” said Coffey. “Delays have been 50-50. Proceeds are typically 90 percent and delays are 10 percent. Even little old ladies in wheelchairs with a squeaky-clean past is taking three days to get through. But it is speeding up. The gun purchasing side of things is starting to descend a little bit. It’s the custom-build side and that’s why we’re so busy.”
He gave the example of someone not necessarily wanting a particular Glock, but it was purchased because it was all that was available. Therefore, that person brings it to Guns N More to custom the Glock.
“We’re the hot rod shop for guns. It’s what we do,” said Coffey. “Guns sales is not my forte. It is 21 percent of my bottom line. That shop (pointing to where 50/50 partner Alan Austin was working) is what makes this money here.”
The shop where Austin works was once a tractor barn but have been converted to a custom gunsmithing shop filled with locker ovens, paint cabinets, and of course Austin and his expertise artwork on guns. Austin is a Certified Gunsmith with the accreditation from Armorers Courses from all major manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson, Glock, and Remington. He was formerly a Small Arms Artillery Technician for the Army, then attended a two-year college (Lenoir College) for a civilian certification.
All Guns N More practices are era dated down to the bluing process. With top of the line machinery. They say if they cannot find a part, they will make it. Their chemical processes are industry-leading and the attention to detail is renowned.
Coffey also owns Behavior Network, a clinic in McKinney for autistic children and adults. His wife Dr. Amanda Coffey is the clinical director while he serves as operations director. He says they began their business at their kitchen table with nine clients and two girls working for them. They now have 347 school districts, 1,500 clients, 144 employees, and a 20,000 square foot operation.
They also operate a transitional home for when autistic children must leave the clinic and need to go to a state institution or permanent housing.
“We created a business model for them to go into a home temporarily to acclimate them into that permanent process. So, we own several houses across the state to do that,” said Coffey.
On top of the other businesses, Coffey also produces hay from his property for Tractor Supply.
On top of all the businesses and waking in the wee hours of the morning, Coffey also manages to volunteer his time to coach baseball and football for the Howe Youth Sports Association.
“The special part is that my wife is a hard worker,” said Coffey. “She was the 300th Board Certified Behavior Certified Analyst in the country and the 14th P.H.D. in behavior health.”
He said that working directly with CPAs and lawyers to build the behavior health company, he forced himself to do it.
“But now I have 64 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s degrees, and five PHDs that work for me and I have no college degree,” said Coffey. “My grandad always used to say, ‘employ people that are smarter than you, but don’t be outsmarted by them and if you don’t have the money, put your back into it.’”
He says that he and Amanda’s philosophy is to always wear everything on their sleeve, be honest and live debt-free.
“We just run a really square business—all of our business models are really squared off,” said Coffey. “She’s talented.”
Coffey spoke very highly of the talent of his co-owner Austin. He said he invested his money into his skillset, and it is currently paying off. A gun shop in Texas is a pretty safe gamble.
