Colorado shooting causes spike in gun sales
Jul 25, 2012, 6:28 AM | Updated: 6:28 am
PHOENIX —
Colorado gun sales have spiked more than 40 percent since last Friday’s shootings at a movie theater near Denver and that comes as no surprise to a Valley gun shop owner.
Phil Roux with Shooters World in Phoenix said he hasn’t seen a rise in gun sales in the wake of the Colorado shootings, but that a rush of gun buyers after a high-profile tragedy isn’t uncommon.
It happened here in the days after the Tucson shooting rampage and Roux said most the buyers don’t get the proper training.
“A lot of people don’t realize what kind of training you need to carry a firearm and be proficient in a stressful situation,” he said.
Roux said, after the shooting in Tucson last year, they saw an increase in sales on specific handguns like the Glock and Glock magazines. Buyers included everybody from soccer moms to husbands and wives.
Roux said the media is largely to blame for the rush of gun buyers after high-profile tragedies because of the intense coverage the incident receives.
“The media continues to sensationalize this and show every aspect of the incidents and focus on the firearm and not the person [who carried out the crimes],” he said.
Bloomberg News reported one-day sales of handguns in Arizona jumped 60 percent two days after the Tucson shooting rampage.
