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Calls for gun purchase background checks were up 77 percent on Saturday over a a year ago.As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Sunday calls were nearly double what they were on the first Sunday in December last year.

Nearly 20 thousand background checks have been run on Florida gun purchasers since the Wednesday shooting in California. During the same four day weekend last December, there were only 11 thousand checks run. This indoor shooting range and gun shop saw a steady increase in sales at the end of the week. Brian Richardson is a Marine veteran and Tactical Trainer at the range.

“ We’ve been, A lot of people were very concerned about what happened in San Bernardino and we saw a large number of people come in to take three concealed weapons permit class this weekend” says the Marine vet.

Background checks which normally take ten minutes or less, were running up to two hours.

On an average weekend, this shooting range will have ten to twelve people show up on a Saturday for a concealed weapons class. This past weekend, twice that many showed up.

One Florida Sheriff has even taken to Facebook saying its time to say what needs to be said as he urges people to learn how to use a gun as their first line of defense. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey posted the video late Sunday.

“If you are a person who is legally licensed to carry a firearm, now is the time more than ever to realize that you and you alone may be the first line of defense for you, your family, and others around you in a terrorist or active shooter based scenario” Ivey cautions viewers from the small screen.

The video has been seen more than 50 thousand times since being posted Sunday night. Marion Hammer of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida says the video points out practical solutions. “He says clearly that law enforcement can get their in minutes, but you can lose your life in seconds” says Hammer.

And since Wednesday’s shootings that claimed 14 lives, it has become clear that more people are looking to protect themselves than every before.

The NRA says there is no telling if lives would have been saved if the San Bernardino Christmas party had not been a gun free zone.