LGBT Gun Group Membership Spikes After Florida Shooting [View all]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Memberships have more than doubled in a national LGBT pro-gun rights organization since a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Florida, killing 49 people.

Pink Pistols Utah chapter President Matt Schlentz said Pink Pistols membership has grown from 1,500 to 4,000 since Omar Mateen's June 12 rampage, the Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/29p0eMI).

"It's really sad that something on this scale had to happen for people to realize this is a need for our community," Schlentz said. "But the reality is, we still get attacked for kissing our partners or holding hands in public. We get windows smashed for having an equality sticker on them."

Schlentz owns semi-automatic rifles similar to the Sig Sauer MCX that Mateen used and said he gets mixed reactions from people who learn he's a gun rights advocate.

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