Local reaction to gun rights, regulations after Vegas massacre
OAKS, Pa. (WPVI) -- There are calls for tougher gun laws in the wake of the massacre in Las Vegas, that left 58 people dead and dozens more injured.
But whether such laws are needed, or if they would be effective, depends on who you ask.
Talk of the shooting, and second amendment rights, were on the minds of those at the Eagle Arms Oaks Gun Show in Montgomery County on Friday.
Organizers say the gun show draws close to ten thousand people over the course of the weekend.
Action News spoke to several people who say what happened in Las Vegas was tragic. But they also say gun control isn't the answer.
Dave Zeller of Zeller Armory, a vendor at this weekend's gun show at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center - called what happened in Las Vegas "a heinous crime." He's also very passionate about his second amendment rights.
"If the politicians want to pass some feel good legislation that will not stop a massacre like that from occurring, that's up to the politicians. I don't think you can legislate evil," Zeller said.
The call for tougher gun laws and more regulation is much to the chagrin of gun owners and sellers.
"I don't think when someone criminally misuses an object that you should then say, we need to ban that object," Zeller added.
Another vendor, Andrew Pedula of TK Defense said, "You're always going to get the crazy. And if somebody has it in their mind that they're going to do something, they're going to figure out a way to do it."
Neither of the vendors we spoke with sell bump stocks - a device found on some of the guns used in the Las Vegas shooting that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire faster.
This week, the NRA released a statement calling for a federal review of bump stocks.
The folks we talked to at the gun show say it's not typically a high-demand item.
"At this show there will probably be one or two vendors that have them. And until this came out in the news, I guarantee they'd probably go home with them," Pedula said.
Brendon Costello of Glenside, Pa. said, "I don't find them very easy to use. I find them inaccurate. I really consider them junk."
Janene Naugle of Reading, Pa., a gun owner says she would be fine with a ban on bump stocks.
"I have no problem with that. I don't see a need for it, it's not going to protect me," she said.
Several gun owners say bump stocks should be banned.
Gun show organizers say they're here at the expo center six times a year, and that there was no talk of changing anything for this weekend in light of Sunday's shooting.
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