HILTON, N.Y. — While the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected all kinds of retail businesses, gun shops saw a huge demand for firearms. That boom in business prompted a Hilton man to go for it and open his own guns and ammunition store.

1791 Guns and Ammo celebrated its grand opening on South Ave. in Hilton. It has already had customers in from as far away as Pennsylvania to Buffalo and Syracuse.

“I sell a little bit of everything,” said owner Michael Sengillo. “I do hunting, I do target and if people own their own land and they want to take care of varmints.”

Limited supply and increased demand for all things guns and ammo is keeping him busy at his new store. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, one of the leading trade associations and firearms industry, estimates some 8 million people bought their first firearm last year.

“Along with that, you’re going to have to buy ammo,” Sengillo said. “And most of them buy one to two boxes. And if you have, say 7 million people, and they buy two boxes each, that’s 14 million boxes of ammo that the suppliers were not able to produce.”

He has a notebook full of customer requests for specific ammunition, sporting rifles, accessories and even handguns. He has his Federal Firearms License (FFL) and searches nationwide for his customers.

“I spend long hours searching the whole United States to find the ammo that I do have,” Sengillo said. “Most of the stores do not have as much ammo as I have. I spend long hours trying to get it just to help my people out.”

It's not bad for a guy who lost his job in correctional food sales during the pandemic. Sengillo turned a hobby into a high demand business.

1791 Guns and Ammo is located at 9 South Ave. in Hilton. It’s open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.