Crime

Gun Sales Surge in Arizona Following Tucson's Mass Shooting

Gun sales in Arizona are surging in the aftermath of Saturday's mass shooting in Tucson.

The Bloomberg news site is reporting that one-day gun sales in Arizona jumped 60 percent yesterday over the same day last year, and that Glocks like the one used by maniac Jared Loughner are in high demand.

None of that should be surprising. A high-profile story about a bullet-spraying maniac, plus talk about gun-control legislation, makes Arizonans think about more, not fewer, guns.

But it's not just Arizonans -- people from California to New York are sweeping up Glocks and other handguns.

 

Here's an excerpt from the Bloomberg report:

 

"Whenever there is a huge event, especially when it's close to home, people do tend to run out and buy something to protect their family," said Don Gallardo, a manager at Arizona Shooter's World in Phoenix, who said that the number of people signing up for the store's concealed weapons class doubled over the weekend. Gallardo said he expects handgun sales to climb steadily throughout the week.

 

In other words, the horrendous news about 20 people being shot by a young nutcase with an overly loaded Glock could also be considered . . . advertising.

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Ray Stern has worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.

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