Obama victory prompts US gun rush, AK47

In a quiet side street not far from where the Texas freeway system knits the sprawling suburbs of Houston into something like a city centre, business is booming at the Top Gun shooting range.

Recession is not biting here in the oil-rich Energy Capital of the World as it is in the rest of the United States - but that is not the only reason why it is difficult to find a parking space outside Top Gun towards the end of the working day.

America's gun owners are worried that the incoming Obama administration, which is coming to power offering hope and change, is going to mean something rather different for them - restriction and regulation.

So they are rushing to buy certain types of weapons in the dying weeks of the Bush years.

Sales of military-style assault weapons (like the Russian-designed AK-47) which are considered the likeliest targets for future curbs have increased by 50% in some areas.