BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Armed with an arsenal of ammunition and multiple high-powered weapons, 20-year-old Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Initial reports say he was carrying a Sig Sauer 9 mm, a Glock 10 mm, and a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, a civilian version of the military’s M-16. Police also reportedly found a shotgun in his car.
They’re all guns that dealers, like Ed Tompkins, manager of Shooters of America in Brunswick, sell on a regular basis.
"They're very typical and very popular,” Tompkins said.
They seem to be getting even more popular in the wake of Friday’s tragedy.
According to staff at Shooters of America, Monday’s sales were five times their average.
"Huge amounts of traffic. Everybody's worried about pending legislation coming through,” said Tompkins, referencing legislation that could potentially prohibit the sale of certain types of firearms similar to the ban in 1994 on assault rifles.
Governor Daniel Malloy, D-Connecticut, is on board.
“Do I think Washington, D.C. needs to get its act together? And enact stricter gun control laws at the federal level?” he asked. “You bet I do.”
But Tompkins doesn’t think it would do any good.
"Everybody's going to knee-jerk and look at guns, but there's another common denominator in my opinion -- we have mental health issues that aren't being addressed. I just think we need to decompress a little bit and figure out from every angle what caused it to happen,” said Tompkins.
Law enforcement sources have said the weapons used in the Connecticut shooting were registered to Lanza’s mother.
