EL PASO, Texas — After a mass shooting took 22 lives at a Walmart, El Paso residents are flocking to buy guns and sign up for concealed-carry classes.
Michael McIntyre, general manager of Gun Central, told Reuters that sales in his shop doubled in the week after the Aug. 3 shooting, and the classes the store offers are filling up.
“I have over 50 for this Saturday class and approximately the same amount for the Sunday class, and I normally have approximately seven,” McIntyre told the news outlet.
The New York Post says two of the people who purchased guns were in the Walmart when the shooting took place.
Most of the people in the classes are Hispanic, Reuters reports. El Paso's population is primarily Hispanic.
Patrick Crusius, the suspected gunman, said he was targeting Mexicans when he opened fire at a Walmart, police said.
As 10News has previously reported, most of the people who died had Hispanic last names, and eight were Mexican nationals. Investigators say the alleged shooter posted a racist rant online just before the attack. It railed against Hispanic people entering the U.S. along the southern border.
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