Gun Sales In Oklahoma On The Rise

The recent Oregon school shooting sparks a presidential call for increased gun control.

At the same time, gun sales are skyrocketing in Oklahoma and across the nation, and the number of people taking classes to conceal carry is also on the rise. 

There are both political and safety fears.

News 9 was told gun sales are on track to be the highest on record across the country. There's barely room to get into a conceal-carry classes in the Oklahoma City metro.

Over at Big Boys Guns, Amo, and Range in southwest Oklahoma City, Angie Houch teaches her students how to shoot a gun.

“They’re wanting to make sure they can protect themselves,” Houch said.

And Houch's classes are packed.  

“We have a classroom that can support  several, you know 50 to 100 people, but we also have multiple instructors,” Houch said.

Each student with a different story on why they chose to get professional training and eventually a conceal carry license.

“It takes training, it takes repetition, and it takes practice,” Houch said. “You want to be prepared. It’s all about being prepared.”

“A lot of people don’t realize how much goes into all this,” said Miles Hall, founder and owner of H&H Shooting Sports.

At H&H Shooting Sports, Hall said he's seeing a much more focused effort on getting permits.

But he said the influx of applicants began more than year ago after a man allegedly beheaded a woman and stabbed another at Vaughan Foods in Moore.

“There’s a reason why the numbers are up, I mean, it has touched close to home,” Hall said.

“The best way to deal with a murderer with a firearm is with another firearm and somebody trained that can use it,” U.S. Congressman Steve Russell said.

Russell said Oklahoma is a fine example of a well-armed community, and relatively low crime.

“You have to ask, 'do we have the right to defend our families?' and if so, 'is a firearm the way to do that?'” Russell said. “It’s a God given right.”

Russell believes most mass shootings happen in states with the strictest gun laws, and at places that have gun bans.

“This tool is to protect you. The gun doesn’t kill people, people kill people,” Houch said.