After ParkLand Shooting - "Lines Out the Door and Strong Sales at Tampa Gun Show"

Less than two weeks after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, I was commissioned by the New York Times to check out the Florida Gun Show in Tampa. We wanted to see how gun enthusiasts were reacting after the tragedy and in the face of potential legislation against guns in Florida. Gun Show officials said it was their most impressive attendance in years. The AR-15, the weapon used in the Parkland shooting, was a prominent feature in the booths of many salesman as gun owners feared its future prohibition.

““Whenever there’s a shooting, business only goes up because people are afraid of losing their right to own a certain weapon.””

“And there, on many tables, were racks of AR-15s — variations of the hugely popular semiautomatic rifle used by the 19-year-old Parkland gunman.”