The anti-gun whiz kids are out of state on a media speaking tour.
Via Tampa Bay Times:
Hundreds lined up minutes after one of the state’s biggest gun shows opened its doors Saturday morning at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
About 400 people from the entrance stood 19-year-old Austin Nichols, a Tampa teen looking to get a deal on bullets. He wouldn’t say for what kind of guns.
There seemed to be more people than in past shows, he said. The line reminded him of an amusement park.
“I think it’s the protests,” Nichols said talking about the recent demonstrations across Florida. “It feels different this time. I think more people are concerned they might do something.”
Nichols and other visitors and vendors at Florida Gun Shows’ Tampa stop shared a similar unease that Congress or state legislators might pass stricter gun laws. Many brought up the topic of the Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre and subsequent protests without being asked.
During the 10 days after the school shooting which killed 17 in Broward County, hundreds of students have walked out of classes and swarmed Florida’s capital in demonstrations calling for new gun legislation. CNN held a town hall in Broward County with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Gov. Rick Scott and the state legislature has proposed changes to gun laws.
At the fairgrounds, about half a dozen people held signs protesting the gun show Saturday morning.
Show owner Khaled Akkuwi said he expected more than 2,000 people to purchase tickets before noon on Saturday. The show ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
“These people here don’t want to be victims,” Akkuwi said of those entering his Expo Hall.