GARDEN CITY - Gun stores across the country say their business has doubled, even tripled, since the presidential election. But an accidental shooting in Washington is a reminder to take gun safety seriously.

On Wednesday President-Elect Barack Obama dropped by the gym to shoot around with the Washington Wizards. Some people are fired up, thinking America's next commander-in-chief will take their guns; a perception he'll push through gun control measures.

The FBI says the instant background checks shot up 49 percent on the week of Nov. 3 to 9, the same week Obama won the election. That's 374,000 checks this year versus the 252,000 done the same week in 2007.

The Boise Gun Company in Garden City has seen the increase in their sales.

“Considerably,” employee Paul Hoagland said. “I can't give you a percentage, but it's been a whole lot of guns.”

According to Hoagland, the gun-buyers aren't limited to a particular group, either.

“Across the board, first-time gun owners all the way to guys buying guns ever since they were old enough to buy guns,” Hoagland said.

Just this week a six-year girl was accidentally shot and killed in Washington state when her allegedly intoxicated father was cleaning his gun.

Hoaglund is a big believer in keeping guns where kids can't get to them. He also offered these safety tips:

“The first thing you need to know about gun safety, all guns are loaded until you physically check it yourself,” Hoaglund said. “You don't want to point it at anything you want to destroy. Keep your finger on the trigger guard until you're ready to pull the trigger. When you need pull the trigger, pull it. If you don't, get your finger off the trigger again.”