In the weeks following the Pulse nightclub shooting, many people across the country — and in the LGBT community — have called for more gun control legislation.

Firearms instructor said LGBT community clientele has gone up

Jo Martin: LGBT clients went from 5 to 40 since Pulse shooting

There will be a meeting July 12 in Orlando on firearms training



But, some members of the Central Florida-area LGBT community are actually buying guns and seeking out training on how to use them.

Jo Martin trains people how to safely use firearms. Martin said she had a handful of LGBT clients seeking out firearms training before the Pulse shooting.

Since the shooting, however, Martin said her LGBT clientele has gone up by eight times. She said she had five LGBT clients before the shooting and now has more than 40.

"When it happens where you live, that really makes people stop and think," Martin said. "And I think especially the LGBT community feel particularly vulnerable because they are soft targets."

News 13 reached out to members of the LGBT community, but several said they didn't want to publicly comment because they were not out to either their family or their employer.

Martin is straight, but she has long held regular firearms training classes for LGBT clients through what’s called the Rainbow Shooting Club.

She said the demand from the LGBT community has been so great since the Pulse shooting that she has formed a Central Florida chapter of the group Pink Pistols, a national gay gun rights organization. The local chapter’s hashtag is #ShootBack.

"Their safety is their responsibility, and they realize they can do something about it," Martin said. "And I think that can only be a good thing. I'm helping them use that right they have by living in this country to defend themselves, if the need ever arises."

Martin is having a meeting on July 12 in Orlando for members of the LGBT community interested in firearms training. For more information, contact Martin at jo@empowerfirearmstraining.com.