More Las Vegans than normal signed up to carry a concealed firearm after the Connecticut elementary school massacre, Metro Police records show.
Between Dec. 14 — the day of the shooting — and Jan. 14, Metro Police received 1,398 applications for permits to carry a concealed firearm.
That’s up 53 percent from the 916 applications Metro receives in an average month, said Officer Jose Hernandez, a department spokesman.
Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza murdered 26 students and staff, Las Vegas Valley gun stores have seen a strong uptick in customers taking the state-required class to obtain a concealed weapons permit.
The Gun Store on East Tropicana Avenue normally offers classes three days a week for up to 50 people at a time, but owner Bob Irwin recently added a fourth day because he’s booked through February.
Range 702 on Dean Martin Drive now teaches its class once a week instead of the usual once a month, and its one-on-one instructional firearms lessons have tripled in volume, Director of Business Development Lianne Heck said.
Las Vegas gun sales also have skyrocketed, especially for military-style rifles like the AK-47 and the AR-15.
Customers fear increased government oversight and want guns that could be outlawed, local retailers have said.
Last month, sales volume at the Gun Store was almost five times that of a typical December. Sales were up six-fold at Discount Firearms and Ammo on South Highland Drive. And at the newly opened Range 702, sales revenue this past month doubled that of a typical month for an established store.