According to this gun shop owner in Ferguson, MO, the uncertainty in the Michael Brown case has led to two spikes in gun sales.
Steven King owns a gun shop in the Ferguson area.
King tells CNN that gun sales went up “exponentially” in August during the first wave of riots and violence that struck the city after Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot teenager Michael Brown.
Sales tapered off after the riots, but as the grand jury is rumored to be nearing a decision on whether to indict Wilson, gun sales have “skyrocketed” again — not just at his shop, but at gun shops all over the area.
King says that the gun buyers range in age from the young to elderly, and include men and women and all races. Many are first-time gun buyers. Some are buying pump shotguns and rifles, but most are buying home defense handguns.
“100 percent of the people that have bought a firearm this weekend, have bought it because of some sort of fear of the unknown, what’s gonna happen this next week or so with the Ferguson verdict,” King told CNN.
“They saw what the protesters are capable of doing back in August,” he added, and they don’t want to get caught off-guard again. So many have purchased guns and are taking gun classes ahead of the verdict.
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