HURRICANE, Utah — Southern Utah gun owners and families who browsed a major gun show here this weekend were tormented by the allegation that one of their own had gunned down conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Some who milled around the traveling Crossroads of the West Gun Show feared that such a high-profile killing could lead to calls for stricter gun regulation, though others said it would never succeed specifically because armed Americans are so angry in this moment.
The show opened at Legacy Park three days after Kirk was killed at a college campus in Orem, Utah, and a day after authorities announced the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who grew up not far from Hurricane.
“We’re embarrassed,” said David Martin, who said his family spends tens of thousands of dollars a year on guns and ammunition, and who had placed “Utah Militia” patches on a protective vest he wore — and on a vest the family Rottweiler sported. Guns are essential in the rural West, if only for safety against bears and mountain lions while camping, Martin said. But using them for political violence in such a community-oriented place is alarming to him.
“Utah, of all places,” he said.
