Thousands go to Florida Gun Show 11 days after massacre

Record numbers flocked to ogle assault weapons, shotguns and pistols at a Florida gun show days after the massacre of students at a high school in the same state.

Organizers at the weekend event in Tampa said that roughly 7,000 people strolled around a hall where guns of various shapes and sizes were displayed on Saturday and more were expected on Sunday, according to WTSP.

Florida Gun Shows, which put on the event, cancelled a similar show set for next month in Fort Lauderdale, which is closer to Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were gunned down by Nikolas Cruz on Valentine’s Day.

But the couple of hundred miles between south and central Florida was enough to have attendees more focused on the massacre’s impact on their ability to purchase weapons.

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Some groups, including the teen survivors of the attack, have called for a ban on assault weapons like the AR-15, which Cruz, at age 18, bought legally in 2017 after being kicked out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

President Trump has called for stricter background checks and raising the minimum age to buy assault weapons, which is currently only 18 under federal law, to 21.

The National Rifle Association opposes the move and it is unclear whether or not Republican lawmakers will support it in Congress.

Unlicensed private person-to-person sales — common at gun shows — are not subject to federal background checks or any age restriction for “long gun” sales.

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Florida Gun Show manager George Fernandez told WTSP that 95% of those at his shows are licensed dealers.

While some of those at the Tampa gun show were firearm enthusiasts, others were newcomers who came to the event out of fear that gun violence will wrack the country.

Juanita Stafford told the New York Times that she got a discount on the normal $199 price for bullet-resistant backpack plates after she bought some for her eight grandchildren.

“We don’t want to be the people going to funerals and saying coulda, woulda, shoulda,” she said.

“We’re putting our money where our mouth is.”