DULUTH, Ga. — In a move rarely seen across the country, a Georgia gun shop owner is closing after the spike in mass shootings and gun violence involving children.
Jon Waldman opened Georgia Ballistics in March 2021. Gun shops saw record sales during the pandemic in 2020 and continued to see a steady increase into 2021. In Georgia, an estimated 495,897 guns were sold in 2021.
Waldman said prior to opening the gun shop he built customized cars but wanted to make a career change that was lockdown proof. It's how his idea of Georgia Ballistics was born, where he could not only sell in a brick-and-mortar store but also online.
However, as gun sales increased across the country following the pandemic so have mass shootings.
"The fact that it keeps being kids, after kids after kids, that’s the thing for me," Waldman explained.
As of this week, there have been 24 school shootings that resulted in injuries or deaths, according to an Education Week analysis.
Locally, four teenagers have been killed in separate shootings since Saturday across metro Atlanta.
"I understand I’m not the one selling the guns that are doing this but there’s a possibility that I could," Waldman added.
Waldman said he believes the key issue is the lack of training. He admitted, too many children are getting their hands on guns but described it as, "I think we have a kid problem with guns, rather than a gun problem with kids."
He said there's not one clear answer to solve the problem we're seeing across the country.
"There’s not a way to cast a huge net, there’s not a magical solution and it’s fixed, there’s not, it’s one of those where the community has to come together, both sides," Waldman said.
He believes by closing his gun shop, he's doing his part.
"I don’t want something that I’ve personally touched, that I’ve helped a client with be used on children," Waldman explained. "What stops this (holding a gun) from being used against my kid, and that’s the problem I have, you never know the person getting it just because they pass a background check."
As a father himself, Waldman said he just can't sell with a clean conscience some of the firearms being ordered by clients through his store.
He showed 11Alive several different firearms and ammunition, which we questioned if they really needed to be sold on the streets.
"Constitutionally, yes. But I don't want to be on the other end of it which is why I just couldn't sell it," Waldman said.
He's referring to a gun a client ordered along with 4,000 rounds of armor piercing 30-06 bullets. Waldman said he ended up backing out of the sale and refunding his client.
"Just because you pass (a background check) that doesn’t mean you should have it," he said.
Waldman said when he looks at his own child, he has to have a clear conscience about what he's doing in life.
"This is just my conscience, and it’s more important to me than anything else," he said.