Austonia AM
100% Austin news, info, and entertainment, straight to your inbox at 6 a.m. every morning.
In five minutes, you're fully informed and ready to start another great day in our city.
×
Featured
austonia newsletter
Get connected with our daily update
Most viewed
(Dawn Holmes)
The pandemic inspired Austin-area resident Dawn Holmes to get a license to carry a concealed weapon.
When single mom Denise Thurston prepared to drive with her young son from her Austin-area home through Houston in June, just as anti-brutality protests were boiling over, she was glad she had just bought a handgun.
Thurston, 45, worried that something like a highway shutdown would leave them vulnerable to protests, or counter protests, or non-protest opportunists who saw a woman and child stuck in an immobile car as easy targets.
"I'm not a big person," Thurston said. "I need some power behind me somehow, and that was my way of doing it."
A chaotic year
Thurston bought her 9mm Glock pistol and became licensed to carry after the March lockdowns began. Previously a firearms novice, Thurston also now owns an AR-style shotgun she purchased this summer for home protection.
She is among hundreds of thousands of Texans whose pandemic-era gun purchases broke state and national records.
Those at ground zero for this phenomenon—trainers, retailers and students—say a wave of fear ushered in by societal destabilization in March, social unrest in May and police walkouts in June have driven the purchases both by newbies and by more experienced owners.
"It shows how people are not trusting their government, they're not trusting what's going on or the information they're receiving, and so they want to take their personal protection into their own hands," said Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin.
As a result, Texas gun owners have filled up classes, emptied ammo shelves, and swamped gun stores and manufacturers.
"It did heighten my concerns, and it definitely prompted me to get more aggressive with getting comfortable with my gun and to start carrying, absolutely," said Austin-area resident Dawn Holmes, who got her license to carry last week.
Soaring numbers
In Texas, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted 121,926 background checks for handguns in June, more than three times the number the same month last year.
The number was even higher in March, right after the pandemic lockdowns began, and the FBI warned that some state shutdowns threatened to reduce the staff available for background checks on new sales and that the surge would create a backlog that could further delay new gun sales from being approved. Checks for Texans seeking to purchase handguns soared from 60,512 in February to 147,714 in March.
That number alone was more than double the checks that took place in December—the highest number of last year—and more than triple the monthly average for 2019.
Nationally, the FBI said they had done some 3.9 million background checks in June, the highest monthly total on record.
'They're afraid'
"It's based on a variety of reasons, but they're afraid," said instructor Tina Maldonado, who works with the local shooting league A Girl And A Gun, and who has more than doubled the amount of time she spends on the range with students since the lockdowns began. "Most of them are families, or parents whose spouses travel a lot, and they just decided they need to protect themselves."
Cargill said he has seen lines out the door and double the number of students since March 13, what he calls "D-Day," the weekend the first wave of new purchases hit.
Cargill predicts another increase around the election. Supporters of President Donald Trump are worried about their gun rights if Democrat Joe Biden wins, he said, and African Americans he's spoken to are worried about the empowerment of white supremacy and the growth of racism if Trump gets re-elected.
"I ask people questions, when they come in the store, to see where their heads are at," Cargill said. "Everyone should just take a deep breath and settle down a little bit. We need to be a lot nicer to each other. Worry about controlling yourself instead of controlling someone else."
Want to read more stories like this one? Start every day with a quick look at what's happening in Austin. Sign up for Austonia.com's free daily morning email.
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Popular
A second person connected to Saturday morning's Sixth Street mass shooting has been arrested. The Austin Police Department confirmed they arrested a 17-year-old male suspect in Killeen on Monday.
The suspect has been identified as Jeremiah Roshaun Leland James Tabb, who will be charged as an adult with aggravated assault, officials confirmed. He was arrested without incident while enrolled in a summer school class.
Police arrested the first suspect, a 16-year-old male, on Saturday evening. It is still not known what charges the suspect will face and since he is a minor, court records and identity will likely remain confidential.
The shooting occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 12, when two men fired shots into a large crowd on the 400 block of East Sixth Street and injured 13, killing one. Investigators believe there was "some type of disturbance" between the two parties.
A 25-year-old tourist visiting from New York, named Douglas John Kantor, succumbed to his injuries while in the hospital on Sunday afternoon. He leaves behind family and his high-school sweetheart.
The investigation is still ongoing and information can still be reported by calling 911 or the police tip line at 512-472-TIPS.
From Your Site Articles
- Man killed in north Austin shooting - austonia ›
- Officer, suspect injured in northeast Austin shooting - austonia ›
- Austin police search for suspects in downtown shooting - austonia ›
- After Austin shooting, Texas lawmakers mull permitless carry ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep Reading
Show less
(Pexels)
With high temperatures looming over Austin for the next week, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which controls about 90% of the state's electricity flow, is asking residents to conserve energy usage through Friday, June 18.
ERCOT issued the conservation alert via Tweet on Monday afternoon, saying that a high number of "forced generation outages combined with potential record electric use" during June have created tight grid conditions. Austin Energy echoed the request.
🔊CONSERVATION URGED! @ERCOT_ISO is asking Texans to reduce electric use as much as possible today, 6/14 through Friday, 6/18, due to statewide grid conditions.
ERCOT says a significant number of power generators have forced outages for repairs. (1/2)
— Austin Energy (@austinenergy) June 14, 2021
ERCOT is attributing the "tight grid conditions" to more electric generators than usual being shut down for repairs.
June is going to be hot—temperatures are expected to peak around 96 degrees every day through Friday. It's just the start of the Texas summer season with high temperatures likely not dipping below 90 degrees for the rest of the month.
ERCOT data indicated that energy demand may exceed capacity during peak heat hours. According to ERCOT, approximately 11,000 MW of generation is on forced outages for repairs and today's peak load forecast may exceed 73,000 MW. The previous record for June was 69,100 megawatts in 2018.
One MW typically powers 200 homes on a summer day.
ERCOT shared voluntary guidelines to reduce energy usage:
- Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher–every degree of cooling increases your energy use by 6-8%.
- Turn off lights and pool pumps and avoid using large appliances like ovens, washing machines and dryers.
- If you don't need something–turn it off and unplug it if possible.
ERCOT has been under scrutiny since the grid collapsed in February during Winter Storm Uri, leaving millions of Texans in the cold and dark for days. The mass outage prompted a series of changes, including resignations, termination of President and CEO Bill Magness and a state investigation.
ERCOT previously said in May that it expected a relatively mild summer for emergency conditions and said it expects a peak energy demand of 77,144 MW through September.
Keep Reading
Show less
Douglas Kantor, the victim who lost his life in the Sixth Street mass shooting, was going to marry his high school sweetheart. (Courtesy of Kantor family)
Family, friends and the community are remembering Douglas John Kantor, the 25-year-old who was killed on Sixth Street after a mass shooting that injured 13 others early Saturday morning.
Kantor, who was visiting from New York and lived in Michigan, died in a hospital just after noon on Sunday after being "shot in the abdomen, just below the rib cage," according to his brother Nick Kantor.
One other victim remains in critical condition. Two suspects have been arrested as police continue to investigate the incident.
"He suffered from the time of the injury until time of death, it was the most gruesome thing," Nick Kantor told KVUE. "It's painful to discuss, but I think the public deserves to know what my brother suffered."
Nick Kantor released a statement to KVUE following his sibling's death, calling the shooting a "senseless tragedy" that "put an end to all his dreams."
According to Nick, Douglas Kantor was "looking forward to marrying his high school sweetheart of 10 years and starting a family." He had recently bought a house after receiving his master's degree in business at Michigan State, where he also completed four years in computer engineering.
🚨UPDATE: The family of Douglas John Kantor has released a statement following the death of the 25-year-old in #Austin: "He was loved by all who knew him." Kantor was shot & killed during a mass shooting event in downtown that injured 13 others: https://t.co/pS9lnAkcuF pic.twitter.com/11fFY5izYb
— John-Carlos Estrada (@Mr_JCE) June 14, 2021
Kantor was employed with Ford Motor Company as a product manager and had also used his computer science skills to develop a website for his family's air conditioning and heating business. Nick Kantor said Douglas was "loved by his family, friends and everyone who met him."
City officials and community members joined Nick Kantor in remembering Douglas Kantor.
Mayor Steve Adler released the following statement regarding Kantor's death:
"The loss suffered by the Kantor family is unimaginable. Doug Kantor leaves behind family, friends, and the future he was building. His senseless death has filled us with enormous grief, and even more resolve to stop this from happening here and across the country. Our hearts go out to all of Doug Kantor's loved ones."
A new Facebook page labeled the Downtown Austin Mass Shooting Survivors has issued a survivors fund for the 13 other victims injured.
From Your Site Articles
- After Austin shooting, Texas lawmakers mull permitless carry ... ›
- Austin police search for suspects in downtown shooting - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep Reading
Show less
