At times, it can seem as if a public mass shooting incident serves as the start of a race for consumers to purchase handguns, employ private security or visit the shooting range. But, as some local personal protection business owners see it, the rush to bear arms may not fit national trends. 

In the week after two concurrent mass public shootings occurred on Dec. 2 — one in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 people dead and 22 injured, and one in Savannah, Georgia, where four people were shot, one fatally — local businesses have seen a rise in interest, but not necessarily a rise in sales.

“It’s not a huge increase,” said Matt Barthold, owner of Bloomington Home & Personal Security Store and Sergeant’s Police & Fire Equipment. “It’s a little bit of an increase, and it’s a bit more for their personal protection. Some of it is not necessarily for the shootings, but for the upcoming (presidential) election and their belief that their rights will be taken away.”

Within two days of the nation’s most recent shootings, owner of Graham’s Security and Patrol Jim Graham said that he’d had three women come into the space he shares with Barthold at 1200 N. College Ave. in Bloomington to apply for a concealed carry permit. Of those women, two bought guns. The sudden spike in shootings coincides with both the holiday season and the upcoming presidential election — events that have increased sales in the past.

“What I’m seeing is that people are realizing — with no disrespect to law enforcement, because I used to be one — that police can only be, most of the time, reactive in nature,” Graham said. “People are starting to realize now that they have to take some kind of steps to protect themselves. So we are seeing an increase in firearms purchases, an increase in home security systems, surveillance systems — even Indiana University students are coming in here and buying stun guns and pepper spray. All across the security realm, there are increases.”

A 2014 report from the polling firm Gallup further indicates the shifting public perception of owning a firearm. The poll asserts that, since the year 2000, the number of Americans who believe having a gun in the house makes it a safer place has nearly doubled, from a little more than a third to almost two thirds. According to Paul Helmke, former president and CEO of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and now an IU professor of practice, that perception is flawed. 
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