In this down economy there is one business that is booming.

In fact 2011 has gone down in the sales books as a record setter, with 2012 having the potential for another strong year if not better.

No it's not food, clothing and certainly not cars or homes. And it's not a product that all families want or need. Would you believe firearms?

As such, Lehigh Valley Guns and Ammo's timing couldn't be better. They officially opened their center city Allentown doors on September 18, before the presidential election, expected anti-gun regulations and upcoming Supreme Court appointments that are reported to be in favor of gun control.

Adam Miller, president of the newly opened gun store at 629 N. 13th St. in Allentown, will likely have more orders than he can deliver considering the state of the industry that is estimated to be a burgeoning $4 billion dollar business according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade organization for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry.

Testament to this is that a small, local gun dealer has over $140,000 in guns backordered since this summer. And nationwide, for example, Dury's Guns in San Antonio, Texas has $400,000 in backordered guns. The owner of Gilbert Guns in Frankfort, KY said, "In 30 years of business we have never seen backorders this high."

So it's not just a Lehigh Valley situation. Domestic gun makers like Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer and Ruger had more orders than they could fill this year and in late spring, Ruger stopped taking orders for a few months to catch up despite running three manufacturing shifts at their Newport, NH plant. In fact on August 11, Ruger produced its millionth firearm in a year. And all gun makers are making record profits.

One indicator of this tremendous market is that FBI background checks were up. According to the NSSF, in January 2012, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS is the computer system federally licensed firearms dealers use to conduct mandatory background checks on purchases of new and used firearms), registered 920,840 checks, an increase of 17.3 percent over the 2011 figure of 784,856. In December 2011 alone, there were more than 1,854,400 checks that went down as the most for any single month. This pales, however, in comparison to Black Friday's record for the most background checks in a single day – 129,166 – a 32 percent increase over the previous one-day high.

Miller, formerly a Northampton County domestic relations hearing officer, decided he wanted his own business and had the foresight to see what was happening in the firearms industry. He wanted to be a part of it. So with some help from his father, Allentown attorney Todd Miller, who owns the formerly vacant 13th Street building, the elder Miller is renting it to Adam for this enterprising business.

With the wall partitions in place, Miller and his partner Matt Leibensperger, who is secretary of the firm and one of three employees, estimates they have about 1,600 square feet of store space in the elongated building that is appropriately designed and furnished with several glass top handgun display cases that consume almost as much space as those at Cabela's in Hamburg.

Miller said they currently have 350 or so firearms on display, which translates into a $300,000 investment. They handle all popular makes with the exception of Kimber and Benelli, which are forthcoming.

In addition to handguns, Miller points to the walls where he displays an array of hunting rifles, AR or black rifles, plus some shotguns with the latter being predominately ones that are used for home protection, the market where his business plan is focused.

As such, Miller is planning on adding a 25-yard shooting range to the south side of the building by knocking out a portion of the wall near the doubly-protected front door. Aside from security cameras inside and out, customers have to ring a doorbell to be buzzed into the vestibule. Once in the vestibule, patrons will then be buzzed into the store. Being within a center city location, security has to be ultra tight.

Once the automated range is completed, Miller wants to run personal safety and home defense shooting classes that will be conducted by certified firearms instructors.

With the on-site inventory, ammunition is also needed and Miller handles the gamut from American Eagle to Zombie.

And along with ammo, the store will handle Mag Pull magazines and products from Blackhawk, a maker of law enforcement products plus holsters and eventually, shooting related outerwear.

In this near recession, you'd think firearms are the last items people would invest in. But the figures don't lie. For a start-up firm, Lehigh Valley Guns & Ammo may see quick profitability.