David Hogg, the new salesman for the gun industry.
Sales of assault-style rifles are surging in the aftermath of the Florida school shooting that killed 17 students and staff members
Criminal background checks for gun sales — a key metric for estimating the demand for guns — rose 3.5% in Florida in the month of February, compared to the previous year, Bloomberg reports.
Background checks for long guns, which includes assault-style rifles like the one used in the Parkland school shooting, surged 12.6% in the state. Nationwide, that metric rose 3%.
Gun sales typically surge after mass shootings, due to rising fears over tightening gun controls.
But under President Donald Trump, gun sales have slowed — a trend that has been called the “Trump slump” — because he’s seen as supportive of the gun industry.
The recent rush of demand for guns indicates that “fear-based buying” is back, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brett Andress.