Local gun store sees slight increase in sales to LGBT community

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m.

Ben Moran said he’s seen a spike in business at Second Amendment Sports in Palm Desert.

“We saw a little bit of an increase,” Moran said. “And it is due to a tragic event, and of course it’s something that we never want to hear about.”

This comes at the same time as many leaders have been debating revised gun control laws in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando.

But Moran said this week he’s seen a rise in sales of people from the local LGBT community. A group he said that’s not typically associated with firearms.

“We’ve seen a little bit of an influx,” Moran said. “And it’s not like someone’s coming in here saying, ‘Hey, I’m a member of the LGBT community. I want to ask some questions.’ You kind of sense the feeling that a lot of people from that community have been coming in and asking questions, and actually purchasing and signing up for classes.”

But LGBT activist groups like Equality California said that’s not the case.

In a statement, members of Equality California said:

“LGBT people and everyone else deserve to live free from fear, but the current patchwork of laws across the country is not keeping us safe. Too many people — in communities from Newtown to San Bernardino to Orlando — have paid the price for the inadequacy of those protections and for the inaction of congress. It is time to enact tough federal gun safety measures and strengthen state laws to assure that another orlando cannot occur anywhere.”

While Moran said it’s always better to carry, and be safe.

“It stands for everything in the LGBT community,” Moran said. “They don’t want to be regulated. They don’t want to have any type of this hold on them. And [it’s] the same with gun owners. We don’t want to have any regulations as to what we can and can’t own, and when we can and can’t use our firearms.”

KESQ/CBS Local 2 reached out to the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, but members were unavailable to comment.

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KESQ and CBS Local 2 is looking into gun sales among the LGBT community in the wake of the Orlando shooting.

Zak Dahlheimer spoke to a general manager of a local gun store on Friday who says he’s seen a slight increase in gun sales and inquiries to purchase a gun from members of the LGBT community this week.

Meanwhile, Equality California announced its support at Los Angeles City Hall on Friday for a gun control package proposed by state lawmakers, and vowed to push for national gun legislation, following the recent mass shooting at the gay nightclub, Pulse.

We reached out to Equality California and we’ll have their statement as well.

Watch the report on KESQ News Channel 3 at 5 p.m. and CBS Local 2 at 6:30 p.m.