kaya'08
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The number of people seeking to buy guns in Colorado has soared since last week's mass shooting in the US state's town of Aurora, say law officials.
In the three days after the shooting, applications for the background checks needed to buy a gun legally were up 43% on the previous week.
According to data released by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, 880 people applied for the state-approved background checks on Friday, 13 July, days before the shooting.
On Friday, 29 July, the day following the shooting, the number was 1,216, and on the Saturday, 1,243. In total, 2,887 people were approved to buy a gun over the weekend, an increase of 43.5% on the weekend before, said the bureau.
"What they're saying is, 'they want to have a chance'," he told the Denver Post. "They want to have the ability to protect themselves and their families if they are in a situation like what happened in the movie theatre."
BBC News - Aurora shooting: Colorado gun sales up after cinema killings