People are stockpiling assault-style rifles after the Florida school shooting

John Locher/AP

Sales of assault-style guns are surging after the Florida school shooting.

• Gun sales are surging after the Florida school shooting that killed 17 students and staff members.
• Criminal background checks for gun sales rose 3.5% in Florida in the month of February, Bloomberg reports.
• Background checks for long guns, which includes assault-style rifles like the one used in the Parkland school shooting, surged 12.6% in the state.

Sales of assault-style rifles are surging in the aftermath of the Florida school shooting that killed 17 students and staff members

Criminal background checks for gun sales - a key metric for estimating the demand for guns - rose 3.5% in Florida in the month of February, compared to the previous year, Bloomberg reports.

Background checks for long guns, which includes assault-style rifles like the one used in the Parkland school shooting, surged 12.6% in the state. Nationwide, that metric rose 3%.

Gun sales typically surge after mass shootings, due to rising fears over tightening gun controls.

But under President Donald Trump, gun sales have slowed - a trend that has been called the "Trump slump" - because he's seen as supportive of the gun industry.

The recent rush of demand for guns indicates that "fear-based buying" is back, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brett Andress.

It "starts to beg the question: Is fear-based buying back? Given all the recent headlines and rhetoric, we would argue yes, for the moment," Andress wrote in a research note.

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