Gun sales spike

Hank went to a pistol range with Mel Katz on Thursday and was delighted to find out he's a pretty good shot. "You're hitting your target better than 87 percent of the cops out there," Katz said.

Mel had trained Hank on a laser range at Mel's Defensive Security gun consultancy in East Windsor. Mel sells weapons by appointment only. He said the phone's been ringing a lot.

"They're buying guns," Mel said from behind his desk, "because they're afraid that the laws are going to prohibit them from buying them down the road."

There's a national spike in gun sales that the New York Times estimates at 1.5 million over the month of December. One reason Mel gives is the executive orders President Barack Obama issued on Tuesday to try to tackle an issue Congress can't, or won't deal with: gun violence.

The other reason? It's historical. There's been a spike in gun sales after many mass shootings, such as the recent one in San Bernardino. The last big one was January 2012 when 2 million guns were estimated sold the month after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Gun manufactuers' stocks also went up after President Obama's executive orders were issued, but those are settling again.