Gun Safe Sales On The Rise Following Conn. School Shooting
ARLETA (CBSLA.com) — Business has been booming at one of the largest gun safe retailers in Southern California in the wake of the Conn. school shooting.
Bo Peterson, the general manager of Dean Safe Company in Arleta, said his business typically sells seven to 10 gun safes on Saturdays.
That changed after 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, Nancy, and shot 28 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown before he took his own life on Friday.
"We sold 105 gun safes in a five hour period on Saturday," said Peterson.
Peterson said he will never forget one mom, in particular, who decided to purchase a safe for her guns.
"(She said), 'The closet just isn't gonna do it anymore,'" he said.
KCAL9's Amy Johnson reported much of the Arleta showroom has been sold out, but many gun safes are on the way.
"I truly believe gun safes, or safes in general, save lives on a daily basis," said Peterson.
Friends of Nancy Lanza said she had a lock box for her weapons, but it's not clear if the guns used in the shootings were in it or if her son had access to it.
"He tried to purchase a gun legally, but was denied because he wasn't old enough. He knew where the guns were. I just hate to think a gun safe could have, maybe not prevented (the massacre), but delayed it. But maybe someone would have seen something to stop it," said Peterson.
