Gun sales to gays and lesbians are skyrocketing in the wake of the Orlando terror attack.
Alleged Islamist Orlando attacker Omar Mateen was “angered” by watching two men kiss, according to The Daily Beast. His alleged attack on a gay nightclub–Pulse Orlando–killed approximately 50 and wounded 53.
Fox 31 Denver reports that gun sales to gays and lesbians are now through the roof. George Horne owns Denver’s The Gun Room and he says business “for this time of year…[is] three to four times what [they] normally have.” He and other gun store owners and instructors say the surge isn’t unprecedented–there is usually one after a high-profile attack–but what is unprecedented are the numbers of gay and lesbian customers.
Mike Smith is a Colorado Springs firearms instructor and he suggests the surge in gay and lesbian customers reminds us that gun owners are no longer the stereotypical group of old white men. He said, “I think right now because of what happened, people are looking for answers. You walk into a gun shop and you expect to see people, frankly, who look like me. I think we forget we’re a country of all people, not just people who fit that predetermined mold.”
The Pink Pistols–a gay gun rights group–saw their membership grow over 100 percent on June 13 alone.