Gun shop counters in Minnesota are getting busier, and not in the usual “winter lull is over” kind of way, according to reporting from KSTP 5 Eyewitness News.
In a video report, journalist Brett Hoffland said shop owners are telling his station they’ve seen a surge in business since “Operation Metro Surge” began, including more people asking about permit-to-carry classes.
The timing matters because the interest is rising in the middle of heavy anxiety tied to immigration enforcement activity, protests, and recent violence connected to federal agents, including the shooting death of Alex Pretti, which Hoffland said has pushed the Second Amendment into a loud public argument again.
Another report, this one from Reuters, featured John Monson – the owner of Bill’s Gun Shop & Range – describing what he says customers are telling him as they come through the door.
Taken together, the two reports paint the same picture from different angles: more Minnesotans are seeking training and licenses, and many are saying they feel less safe than they did a few months ago, with ICE operations and the unrest around them acting like a spark.
A Store That’s Used To Winter Business, But Not This
Hoffland reported from Robbinsdale, standing outside Bill’s Gun Shop & Range, where he said the owner told him this time of year typically brings an uptick.
But, Hoffland added, not to this level.
Inside, he spoke with Dylan Solon, a customer trying to enroll in a permit-to-carry class, who said it was his second time that week attempting to sign up.
Solon told Hoffland he came in the other day for the same class and it was “twofold” just to talk to anybody, describing the moment as crowded and intense in a way that felt new.
“It’s wild times,” Solon said in the KSTP report, adding that things are “getting kind of crazy,” which is a plain-spoken line that captures the mood a lot better than polished political messaging ever does.
When Hoffland asked if he was surprised by the uptick in business, Solon said he wasn’t, pointing to what he called the “climate” of what people have seen over the last month or so.
That’s the heart of this story: it’s not just a shopping trend, it’s a reaction, and reactions usually don’t come from a single headline but from a slow buildup of events that makes people feel like normal rules aren’t holding.
“Our Door Traffic Is Definitely Up”
Hoffland then interviewed Monson, who confirmed the surge in direct terms.
“Our door traffic is definitely up,” Monson said, and he told KSTP that classes are the biggest increase right now, suggesting that for many customers this isn’t simply about buying an object, but about learning and getting legal permissions in place.
Monson also compared the current spike to another well-known surge in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, telling Hoffland he saw business jump then too, though he does not believe it will reach that same level this time.
That comparison is revealing because it connects two very different flashpoints with a similar outcome: when social stability feels shaky, some people look for tools and training that make them feel less helpless.
Monson told Hoffland that customers are coming in and saying, in effect, that with “chaos and turmoil” in their neighborhoods they feel it’s time to look into self-defense and home protection.
Even if you disagree with the conclusion some customers draw, the emotional math is easy to understand: if you believe danger is rising and you don’t trust institutions to protect you quickly, you start seeking control where you can find it.
And that’s where the current ICE operations play a role, because regardless of what anyone thinks of immigration enforcement as a policy, aggressive raids and heavily charged public encounters can create an atmosphere that feels like the floor is vibrating under the community.
Reuters: Not Fear Of ICE, Fear Of What’s Around ICE
The Reuters video put Monson’s perspective in sharper focus, because it addressed a question he says he hears constantly.
Monson told Reuters that people ask him, “Are people buying guns to protect themselves from ICE?” and he said his answer is “just the opposite.”
He told Reuters not a single person is coming in saying they need a gun because they fear federal agents will “bang” in their door, and he emphasized that isn’t what he is hearing from customers at all.
Instead, Monson said the vast majority are coming in saying they need self-defense because of what he called “the lawlessness” happening around these ICE operations, and because of other things happening “outside of all this.”
That framing is careful but pointed, because it shifts responsibility away from ordinary residents and toward the environment created when enforcement actions trigger public conflict, protests, and heightened tensions that spill into daily life.
It’s also a reminder that fear doesn’t always point in the direction politicians assume; people can support law enforcement in theory while still feeling that a particular operation is amplifying instability in the streets.
Monson told Reuters he hates seeing the lawlessness, described himself as “for the letter of law,” and said he is pro law enforcement, while also sounding frustrated that people are afraid or unwilling to say what they think openly.
He predicted that “it will all feed out” eventually, but he called it a painful experience where people have suffered through the process, and said he’d like to see it come to an end.
That’s an important note of restraint, because it doesn’t treat unrest as entertainment; it treats it as human damage that spreads outward from the original spark.
Training First, And Carrying Quietly
One of the more practical parts of Monson’s Reuters interview was how he described what his shop teaches.
He said when they teach concealed carry, they discourage open carry because they don’t want people drawing attention to themselves, and because attention can turn a tense moment into something worse.
Monson said they teach students that “you are the aggressor” as soon as you’re in a situation while carrying a firearm, because you have lethal force, and he said they try to teach people to avoid situations because “bad things happen.”
That’s a blunt way of putting a real-world truth: even lawful carry can change how a conflict escalates, and the best case is not “winning” a confrontation but not getting into one in the first place.
It’s also a useful counterweight to the idea that a surge in gun-related interest automatically means a surge in people wanting to act tough, because what Monson described is closer to risk management and de-escalation than chest-thumping.
At the same time, the need for that kind of instruction is itself a sign that something feels wrong, because most people don’t wake up one day craving concealed carry training unless they believe their environment is changing in an unpleasant direction.
And if ICE operations are generating that feeling – whether through raids, street activity, or the protests and clashes they trigger – then it’s fair to say the policy isn’t staying neatly inside its own lane, because it’s shaping the public’s sense of safety.
A Legal Debate Rekindled By A Fatal Shooting
Hoffland said the Second Amendment has been widely discussed following the shooting death of Alex Pretti, and the way the report described it suggests the case has become a flashpoint in how people see lawful carry and public protest.
The KSTP segment included the idea, expressed in a short sound bite, that people should not have to give up their Second Amendment rights to participate in First Amendment activity.
It also referenced the disappointment some feel when they learn someone had taken steps to carry legally, implying that the legal compliance piece has not prevented tragedy or controversy, and may even intensify debates afterward.
Hoffland also interviewed Rob Doar, identified as the president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center.
Doar told KSTP these trends often happen when people feel unsafe due to unrest or fear their rights might be taken away, which frames the surge as part security concern and part political concern.
He also told Hoffland that more exact numbers on permit-to-carry applications should be available later, meaning the spike can be measured more clearly once the data catches up with what shop owners say they’re seeing day-to-day.
What This Surge Might Really Mean
The easiest way to read this story is as a “gun sales are up” headline, but Hoffland and Monson both pointed to something more specific: the growth is driven by training, classes, and people trying to do things the legal way.
That distinction matters because it suggests a segment of the public is reacting to instability by trying to become more competent and more compliant, not less.
Still, it would be naïve to pretend this is purely about education, because the reason people seek that education is fear, and fear often rises when the public feels government actions are producing chaos rather than order.
The critical point – without turning it into a partisan rant – is that ICE raids and immigration crackdowns don’t happen in a vacuum, and when they are carried out in a way that provokes protests, confrontations, and deadly incidents, the emotional fallout spreads far beyond the intended targets.
That fallout looks like crowded classrooms at gun ranges, longer lines at counters, and customers telling a reporter, as Solon did, that things feel “wild” and “crazy” in their community.
Even if ICE’s stated goal is enforcement, the lived reality described in these reports is that the operation is also shaping daily life in Minnesota by creating a climate where ordinary residents feel less secure, and that insecurity is pushing some of them toward armed self-defense preparation.
Monson’s comments to Reuters struck me as especially revealing because he didn’t describe customers as itching for a fight; he described them as wanting self-defense while he simultaneously urges avoidance and lower visibility, which is basically the opposite of the “looking for trouble” stereotype.
But it’s still sad, in a very practical way, that people feel they have to do this at all, because a healthy society doesn’t usually send large numbers of residents into firearms classes out of a feeling that the streets have become unpredictable.
If there’s a lesson in Hoffland’s reporting and Monson’s interviews, it’s that when government operations create an atmosphere of confrontation – whether through raids, aggressive enforcement presence, or the shockwaves of deadly incidents – the public doesn’t just watch; it adapts, and sometimes that adaptation shows up in places like a packed permit-to-carry class in Robbinsdale.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
