Florida Gun Store Owner: Tragedies Increase Firearm Purchases

A West Palm Beach, Florida, gun store owner says that tragedies similar to yesterday's Parkland school shooting usually lead to an "uptick" in both firearm purchases and classes.

Alex Shkop, owner of Guns and Range Training Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, tells WPEC-TV that his store typically sells about 15 to 20 AR-15 assault rifles each month -- the same weapon used in Wednesday's Marjory Stoneman Douglas attack that left 17 dead and injured several more people. But Shkop says a ban on similar weapons is a misguided political solution and that firearms in the hands of responsible people increase public safety.

A blog post on the Guns and Range Training Center website discussing the San Bernardino, California mass shootings is entitled, "WHAT GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES DON’T UNDERSTAND ABOUT GUN OWNERS." It criticizes a gun control advocacy opinion piece from the "liberal Daily Kos website."

Shkop, whose 1016 Clare Ave business is about 40 miles from Parkland, Florida, said that mass shootings and other firearm-related attacks have typically increased the amount of people coming in to purchase firearms or consider gun safety courses. The most recent mass shooting in the region prior to Wednesday was the June 2016 Pulse Nightclub attack in Orlando in which the gunman used a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle to kill 49 people.

“Usually when we have tragedies, people just in general, there’s an uptick in movement. People take concealed classes and they buy a firearm in general,” Shkop told CBS 12. He added that an assault rifle ban in Washington D.C. or more locally is a mistake because people wanting to unleash terror will simply use another violent means to attack others.

The AR-15 has come under particular nationwide scrutiny for its role in several of the country's most recent mass shootings. A Bushmaster model of the weapon was used by Adam Lanza in his December 2012 massacre that killed 26 people, including 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Shkop said that although he does sell around 20 of the AR-15 assault rifles on a monthly basis there has not yet been a "rush of people coming in for the AR's" as of Thursday.

When asked why any "law abiding person" would need the assault rifle, Shkop touted the effectiveness and safety of the weapon in the hands of young people or those who are "not evil."

“An AR-15 is actually a better choice of a firearm purchase for a regular citizen because they are easier to handle by older people, easier to handle by younger people, easier to handle by anybody that doesn’t have a lot of training,” Shkop said. “AR is a good firearm. It’s not evil. In good hands, it’ s actually a wonderful thing."

Shkop suggested military veterans could be hired to help protect schools, noting their past experience in handling tense situations involving firearms.