FLORIDA: Record Crowd Turns Out For Gun Show

Tampa’s ABC affiliate reports:

Thousands of gun enthusiasts — more so than ever — flocked to the Florida State Fairgrounds for the Florida Gun Show event. Organizers say they had a record number of people attend the event on Saturday, Feb. 24, almost 7,000, and expected more Sunday. The manager for the Florida Gun Show, George Fernandez, says they’ve never seen such a big crowd.

The company canceled the show in Fort Lauderdale next month after the mayor asked them to show respect to the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting earlier this month. With the heated debate over gun control staying front and center, Fernandez expressed concerns over proposed gun laws possibly restricting gun owners.

Florida lawmakers, like U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, want stricter laws to fix the so-called “gun show loophole,” which allows people to buy a gun at one of these events without getting a background check.

The line outside the Florida Gun Show is growing by the minute. Yesterday, an estimated 7K people attended, which organizers say was a huge turnout for Tampa @BN9 pic.twitter.com/WTW75lWZmJ

— Angie Angers (@angie_angers) February 25, 2018

The fact that the Florida Gun Show is seeing record turnouts, as vendors display AR-15s to children right after 17 people in the state lost their lives, is a shining example of why people shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns outside of certified gun stores!

— Ed Krassenstein ? (@EdKrassen) February 26, 2018

What did I tell you, @davidhogg111? You start threatening LEGAL gun ownership, you get a lot more gun purchases.

Florida Gun Show sees record number of visitors https://t.co/vhd9ki2Xly

— Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) February 26, 2018

“Florida Gun Show” I bought a AR-15 this weekend can’t pick it up yet. I would not have spent the money except for all the calls to ban them. Joined the NRA too. I hope I POed a bunch of Lib-bots by posting this

— Defending Gun Rights (@goodtime4all696) February 26, 2018

Some will say record numbers at a Florida gun show are based on teenagers rising up, but the truth is that it’s nothing new.

It’s simply a continuing pattern of the NRA stoking fears to sell more guns. pic.twitter.com/XiIOjI4gMg

— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) February 26, 2018

“Never Seen Such A Large Crowd”: Record Numbers Flock To Florida Gun Show After Shooting; https://t.co/SJWKqyK85x pic.twitter.com/V5PHuC0byc

— Blacklisted News (@BlacklistedNews) February 26, 2018