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A hard-hitting propaganda campaign unleashed this year by Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the National Rifle Association, may be convincing Americans that President Obama will crack down on gun ownership if he鈥檚 re-elected and becomes a lame duck.

Skyrocketing sales of guns and ammunition, along with some shortages due to stockpiling, are reported by many U.S. shops.

鈥淧eople are worried about a second Obama presidency,鈥� Simon Wallace, sales manager at Merchant Firearms in Phoenix told Hatewatch. Merchant is one of many gun shops that started seeing demand increase around the first of the year. There are shortages of all types of weapons and ammunition, Wallace said.

One sign of the current panic is the number of FBI background checks for prospective gun owners. The background checks hit an all-time high in 2011 鈥� about 16.5 million. In the first four months of this year, according to the FBI, there were about 6.3 million checks 鈥� on track to shatter last year鈥檚 record.

The background checks don鈥檛 reflect the exact number of firearms purchased, but in most cases the individuals who submit to the checks will buy guns, said Mike Molchan, a spokesman for the Professional Gun Retailers Association, a trade group for gun shop owners.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of free-floating fear,鈥� Molchan said in an interview with Hatewatch. 鈥淎t one end of the spectrum, you have the survivalists and the stockpiling.鈥�

Molchan has heard customers talk about a fear that the Obama administration could hike the excise tax on new firearms and ammunition from 10% to as high as 50%. 鈥淎s an association, we鈥檙e very concerned. I think there鈥檚 a high probability he鈥檒l do that, so people are getting their guns now.鈥�

David Schrank of Smoke 鈥楴 Gun in Waukegan, Ill., told Hatewatch that a lot of聽 guns are now difficult to find. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not meeting the current demand,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e selling more ammunition and more of everything since around February.鈥�

And it鈥檚 not just the older gun 鈥渞egulars鈥� leaping on board. More new, first-time customers in their 20s and 30s are buying weapons, said Daniel R. (he declined to give his last name), sales manager at Dave鈥檚 Guns in Spokane. 鈥淚t was like a light switch turned on in January,鈥� he told Hatewatch.

It could be no coincidence that the surge started early this year. That was about when LaPierre 鈥� at times accused even by supporters of going off the deep end with his anti-Obama, fear-fanning rhetoric 鈥� began a relentless drumbeat of messages, warning online and in personal appearances that the Second Amendment would become history if Obama wins re-election.

In a widely viewed YouTube interview, LaPierre calls the fall election 鈥減robably the most dangerous election in our lifetime for the Second Amendment. It could break the back of the Second Amendment. We need to be out there defending freedom.鈥�

In another speech widely circulated by the NRA media operation, he referred to 鈥渢he Obama administration鈥檚 clear intent, once freed from the political restriction of a first term, to assault the Second Amendment.鈥� In a recent NRA report, LaPierre called the media鈥檚 alleged softness on Obama鈥檚 purported plan to demolish gun rights 鈥渢he biggest cover-up since Watergate.鈥� And in a February speech he hit hard on 鈥渁 massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intention to destroy the Second Amendment during his second term.鈥�

On the NRA website, in a February message headlined 鈥淎ll or Nothing Election for the Second Amendment,鈥� LaPierre warned that an Obama victory would mean the right to bear arms 鈥渃ould well perish in a Supreme Court heartbeat.鈥�

This isn鈥檛 the first time LaPierre has ginned up his own brand of terror in trying to recruit members for the NRA and his political agenda. In the run-up to the 2008 election, he joined in a similar campaign dubbed 鈥淧repare for the Storm in 2008鈥� that also jacked up gun sales and was mentioned by some current shop managers.

Of course, Obama has done nothing to restrict gun rights and has not mentioned any plans to do so.