Gun sales skyrocketed in several states after Saturday's shooting. | AP Photo Gun sales soar 60 percent in Arizona

Gun sales soared in Arizona and several other states on Monday after the shooting on Saturday of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to FBI figures provided to POLITICO.

Gun sales skyrocketed 60 percent in Arizona on Monday, Jan. 10, compared with the corresponding Monday last year. Giffords was shot and critically injured at a public event on Saturday. Six people at the event were killed; 12 others were injured.


Nationwide, sales were 5 percent higher on Monday than they were a year ago.

Gun sales spiked after the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech and ahead of Jan. 1, 2000, as some Americans anticipated a Y2K technology disaster.

In Ohio, sales spiked 65 percent on Monday, the FBI said. They rose 38 percent in Illinois, 33 percent in New York and 16 percent in Florida.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, cautioned that one day’s worth of data might not mean there will be a sustained spike in gun sales.

But he said it might indicate that some Americans fear tougher gun control laws in the aftermath of Saturday’s attack so they want to stock up now.

“What it shows is maybe gun owners in Arizona and these other states feel that there’s going to be some change in the law, which is what I hope our elected officials” are working toward, Helmke said.

Shares of gunmakers Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Smith & Wesson were up less than 1 percent in trading on Tuesday.