WATERLOO - Gun sales have shot through the roof as the presidential election looms.

Fears of tighter control were mutual Saturday among shoppers at the Gun & Knife Show, which ends today at the National Cattle Congress' McElroy Auditorium. It offers a buffet of rare guns and hard-to-find accessories.

According to the Associated Press, Republican candidate John McCain supports background checks for buyers at gun shows and has his name on a law restricting special-interest group advertising, two positions strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association. Democratic challenger Barack Obama has been accused of wanting to put the firearms industry out of business.

But both campaigns' running mates, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, own guns.

It's no surprise, then, why uncertainty has pushed sales up 30 to 40 percent from show to show, said Dennis Pearson, show manager with On Target Promotions, which hosts about 14 shows a year in Iowa and Missouri.

"Actually, the fear rating was probably higher when Hillary (Clinton) was running for the Democratic nomination than what it is now with Obama because a lot of people don't think he's going to get elected anyway," Pearson said.

"In the last three weeks since the market declined, we're still up probably 20 percent," he added.

Mike Gabriel, who owns Gabe's Gun Shop in Williamsburg, said business is booming. This has been his best year in 26 years.

Gun enthusiast Jon Scharfenkamp, 40, of Carroll isn't taking any chances. He was looking for a World War II German Mauser to add to his nearly 20-gun collection.

"If Barack Obama's our next president, I'm afraid … it's going to be harder to buy stuff and more expensive possibly," Scharfenkamp said. "I'm going to try and get everything I always wanted bought before the end of the year."

More laws would definitely dampen Boyd Trueman's newfound interest in guns. While his dad has owned The Bullet Hole, a gun shop in Evansdale, for more than 20 years, Trueman, 32, of Waverly acquired a Russian SKS rifle just weeks ago. He was hunting for parts and ammunition with his wife, Sarah, and son, Jaydon.

Tom McGregor, 43, of Wesley pointed out a difference between being governed and being ruled. He thinks the government should preserve the Second Amendment's right to bear arms as a means of defense. More laws aren't going to stop criminals from carrying weapons illegally, he added.

"That gun can lay there for 10 years and never shoot nobody," McGregor said. "You put it in the hands of a murderer, it can kill 10 people."

Guns have earned a bad reputation from recent shootouts, especially on Waterloo's north side, noted Orrin Miller, 63, of Waterloo. But more people than some realize own guns and have permits to carry, he said.

McGregor stores his guns in a closet and rarely shoots them.

"Gun control, in all seriousness, all it does is it takes the law-abiding citizens out of it," he said, "because if the criminals followed by the law, they wouldn't be criminals."

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484 or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.