Firearm Sales Surge After Colorado Shooting

In Colorado Wednesday, family and friends will remember 51-year-old Gordon Cowdon, the oldest victim in last week's theater shooting and the first to be buried. He had taken his two teenaged children to see the batman premiere.

And after the deadly shooting last week, gun sales are up across the country, not just in Colorado.

Dick Rutan, owner of the Gunner's Den in Arvada, Colorado, told the Associated Press his phone is ringing off the hook for concealed-weapon training certification, but he's not selling guns to everyone who walks in the door.

"I have flat out told people you know I don't like your manner, I don't like the way you collect yourself. If I smell alcohol on somebody's breath, I don't care how much money they have," he said.

And as Michael Bender reports in Bloomberg, background checks are also up in Colorado.

Background checks for gun purchases spiked 41 percent in Colorado after 12 people were killed inside a suburban Denver movie theater, according to state data. In the four days after the July 20 shooting, dealers submitted 3,647 requests for state background checks required to buy a firearm, said Susan Medina, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. That’s 41 percent more than the 2,583 requests during the same four days the prior week and a 38 percent increase over the 2,636 checks during the first Friday to Monday in July.