The grand jury investigating the shooting death of Michael Brown is expected to release a decision soon, and in the Ferguson, Missouri, area people are preparing for violence.
As one gun store owner put it, gun sales are starting to "skyrocket."
Police officers man their positions in front of Ferguson businesses just after 10 p.m. on West Florissant Avenue on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Robert Cohen)
Ferguson was rocked by weeks of violent protests after Brown, a black 18-year-old, was fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson.
In this Feb. 11, 2014 file image from video provided by the City of Ferguson, Mo., officer Darren Wilson attends a city council meeting in Ferguson. Police identified Wilson, 28, as the police officer who shot Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014 in the St. Louis suburb. The incident sparked racial unrest and numerous protests, including some that turned violent. (AP Photo/City of Ferguson, File)
The details of the shooting remain the subject of vociferous debate, and the grand jury is reviewing the case to determine whether charges should be brought against Wilson, or whether Wilson was merely acting in the line of duty when he shot Brown.
Protestors have made sometimes violent demands for "justice" — meaning Wilson's arrest and prosecution.
Protesters hold up signs, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in front of a convenience store that was looted and burned following the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Locals bracing for the grand jury's report are taking a "better-safe-than-sorry" approach to the looming grand jury report.
Dan McMullen, who runs Solo Insurance on West Florissant in Ferguson near where looting and vandalism exploded in August, told CNN that he's started bringing an extra gun to the office.
"So maybe I get trapped here or something and have to have a John Wayne shootout," McMullen said. "That's the silly part about it: Is that going to happen? Not a chance. But I guess, could it? I'm the only white person here."
On Monday, John Stephenson, the manager at Metro Shooting Range in Bridgeton, Missouri, said gun sales are up 40 to 50 percent as of last week.
Steven King, who owns Metro Shooting Supplies in Ferguson, told CNN that customers bought 100 guns this weekend, comparing that to a typical weekend which would have seen only 30 or so sales.
"I can tell you that 100 percent of the people that have bought a firearm [recently] have bought it because of some sort of fear of the unknown, what's gonna happen this next week or so with the Ferguson verdict," King said. "They saw what the protestors are capable of doing in August, and now they are determined not to have their guard down this time around."
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