Minneapolis firearm instructors see surge in interest amid ongoing turmoil

Erin Gittins, 44, said she obtained her permit to carry a handgun in Minnesota earlier this week to protect herself from chaos and possible riots linked to protests against the federal government’s immigration crackdown.

Gittins, a mother of two who lives alone in Ramsey, said she’s more concerned about the turmoil caused by protesters in the region than about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

“That has continued to escalate,” Gittins told Newsweek of intense protests that continued Friday nationwide following the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers this month. “My concern is that getting out of hand, you know, with everything going on. And I understand the ICE agents are here with a job; they have a job to do. We all have jobs to do, right? It just seems like everything has really continued to escalate.”

Gittins acknowledged the rights of protesters to peacefully rally against federal immigration enforcement, but said she’s worried about emotions boiling over and potentially impacting her personally.

“To be honest, I’m concerned of things getting out of hand and turning into, like, another George Floyd-type thing,” she said, referring to widespread unrest following Floyd’s murder by a police officer in 2020. “It all starts as people thinking it’s a peaceful protest, but then it turns into something else.”

Gittins took a $99 course this month at Minnesota Firearms Training in Anoka, where she learned basic safety procedures, state laws on safely carrying a firearm, and completed a live-fire exercise featuring targets at roughly 10 and 15 feet away.

The recent batch of gun aficionados at Minnesota Firearms Training also included college students, a 66-year-old woman, and people of many races and ethnicities.

“It’s a wide mix, it’s everyone across the board,” he said. “But mainly, it’s inner city. It’s normally it’s not as much inner city; it’s normally more of a suburban thing.” John Monson, owner of Bill’s Gun Shop & Range in Robbinsdale, tallied a 40 percent increase in requests for firearm training and right-to-carry classes since December. But like Briggs’ new group, the bulk of customers aren’t worried about federal immigration agents, he said.