At a gun shop near Ferguson, Missouri, the manager told CNN that sales of firearms for personal protection have increased nearly 50 percent. As stores in Ferguson and nearby areas board up their fronts in fear of riots that could be sparked in the coming days of a potential grand jury decision, residents appear to be taking up arms.
“Every time that door opens we see new faces everyday. Dozens of new faces are coming in,” the shop manager said noting that he believes the spike in sales is connected to the tension related to the decision that is about to be released by the St. Louis Grand jury as to whether or not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting 18 year old Mike Brown last August.
“I think it is… because it’s spread beyond Ferguson now,” he said.
The mayor of Ferguson, James Knowles, responded to the issue saying, “The plus side of that is, everyone that I spoke to went out and had taken a training class—went out and tried to learn the law.”
Ferguson protesters and rioters, angry about the shooting death of Michael Brown, are preparing to march in over 20 cities across the country if the St. Louis Grand Jury decides not to indict Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson. Wilson fatally shot Brown back in August as Brown. Brown, a 294 pound 18-year-old, was unarmed, so he charged Wilson and tried to wrestle the officer's weapon from him. Protests are being planned on either the day of or day after the announcement is released from the St. Louis Prosecutor’s office.
