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Terror scares leading people to buy guns

Posted at 6:30 PM, Dec 11, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-11 21:30:11-05
Ordinary citizens are now arming themselves at unprecedented rates.
 
Recent terror attacks have led to a spike in gun sales and applications for concealed carry permits.
 
Bob Irwin, the owner of The Gun Store, says they're selling twice as many handguns as normal and their suppliers are running on a three-day backlog.
 
He says many of these customers are first time gun owners which shows how much Paris and San Bernardino have changed people's thinking.
 
Mike Greenfield of Las Vegas hadn't touched a gun in 25 years until this month.
 
"I used to be against it," he said. "Now I'm all for it in a self-defense manner."
 
He says his stance has changed as the world has changed.
 
"Paris, San Bernardino, ISIS, everything that's been going on," Greenfield said. "We've got home invasions and attacks locally right under our nose."
 
The Gun Store is seeing a flood of customers like Greenfield who are looking to learn more.
 
Irwin says half their sales are first-time gun owners.
 
"People are realizing that they need to be able to defend themselves," he said. "Police are doing everything they can, but they can't be everywhere at once."
 
Especially since the San Bernardino attack, business has boomed.
 
"It just cleaned us out," Irwin said. "We sold almost every gun in the entire store in a day and a half."
 
Concealed weapons classes they offer are selling out too.
 
Greenfield says he's educated himself in order to be prepared for a worst-case scenario.
 
"I'm willing to put my life out on the line for the safety of others," he said.
 
Irwin says he has no intention to raise his prices, but that now is not a time when you'll find many discounts on guns in Las Vegas.