(Memphis) Thousands of Mid-Southerners are among those sitting at home or wondering if they’ll be getting paid and a lot of Millington businesses say they are starting to suffer because of the federal government shutdown.
But one business we talked to says they have actually seen a slight increase in customers because of it.
“They`ll do what we call recreation shooting or what we like to call ‘lead therapy,;” said Jessica Clark with Top Brass Sports, a shooting range in Millington.
“You just feel better after shooting for 30 to 45 minutes down here.”
One person who could use some “lead therapy” is the owner of Martin Auto Sales.
“Phones not ringing. It usually rings off the hook. Nothing going on,” said Tommy Martin.
Martin says in his 22 years of business, he has never had a week as bad as this one.
Since the federal government shutdown, he has sold zero cars.
Only five percent of Martin’s business is the Navy folks down the road.
Even though 1,600 of them are furloughed, that’s not the problem.
He says it’s his customers on fixed-incomes, people who rely on social security or disability or other government checks.
They have no idea what the shut-down is going to mean for them.
It’s something Clark at the range has heard her shooters talking about.
“I have had different customers saying they are not sure they are going to get it. They are not sure how things are going. A lot of uncertainty. People just not knowing what`s going on.”
“The uncertainty. Correct,” said Martin.
The Social Security Office says people will get their checks during the shutdown, but it seems people would still rather shoot than spend.