GLENDALE, AZ (CBS5) -
Just weeks after two mass shootings that left several innocent people dead, one of the biggest gun shows in the West is here in Glendale.
The University of Phoenix stadium was packed with gun enthusiasts Saturday for Crossroads of the West Gun Show.
"Gun sales are a little bit slower lately because of the economy," said Yuma Coin and Gun Shop owner Michael Brick.
He said several people are checking out guns mainly for recreation.
"It's not necessarily for defense. A lot of people are going out in the desert and they just want something to go do. To shoot targets and stuff like that," said Brick.
Guns have always been at the center of controversy. The argument of whether stricter laws could have prevented the movie theater massacre in Colorado where a gunman opened fire and killed 12 people and injured several others.
Or more recently the shootings at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin that took six lives.
"They felt less secure on our city streets than they used to with things going on. They'd rather have a gun than not have a gun," said Brick.
On Friday, David Berkowitz, dubbed the Son of Sam, who went on a yearlong shooting spree and shot six people to death in the 70s entered the gun debate. He weighed in after the recent mass shootings. He was quoted saying, "Society has to take the glory out of guns."
But gun owner Robin Sellars says guns aren't the problem.
"The people, that's the problem," she said.
The gun show goes through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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