A Georgia gun store owner is closing his shop due to the rise in the number of mass shootings targeting children.
Jon Waldman, 43, opened Georgia Ballistics in 2021. Gun sales reached a record high during the pandemic and has been steady in the post-pandemic era.
But as gun sales increase, so did the number of incidents of gun related violence involving children. There was a 50% increase in the number of gun deaths involving children in the last two years, according to the Pew Research Center. Also, there were 46 reported school shootings last year, the most since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, according to the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, there has been 24 reported incidents of school shootings so far this year. This put the country on track to set a new record for the most school shootings in a single year, according to Education Week.
“The fact that it keeps being kids, after kids after kids, that’s the thing for me,” Waldman told 11Alive.
As a father, Waldman is doing his part by closing his gun store.
“I don’t want something that I’ve personally touched, that I’ve helped a client with be used on children,” he said. “What stops this [gun] from being used against my kid?. That’s the problem I have, you never know the person getting it just because they pass a background check.”
Waldman said people have a right to be armed, he just won’t be the one selling the weapon.
“I’m not against the Second Amendment. But just with my conscience, I can’t sell it because I don’t know who it’s going to affect and hurt,” he said. “That’s what eats at me. If it can happen, it’s only a matter of time until it does happen.”
He said he recently backed out of a deal and refunded a client who wanted to purchase 4,000 rounds of armor piercing bullets.
“When you order 4,000 rounds, the kind of stuff that goes through engine blocks, refrigerators and vests that police officers wear, I just can’t sell that,” he said.
“This is just my conscience, and it’s more important to me than anything else,” Waldman added.
