At this point, it’s well documented that mass shootings cause people to buy guns. This was pointed out in an Atlantic Wire article published yesterday.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that, starting Friday morning — immediately following the tragedy in Aurora — Colorado saw increased gun-buying activity.

An article published Monday in the Denver Post used state background checks as a gauge of people’s interest in purchasing a gun:

“Between Friday and Sunday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation approved background checks for 2,887 people who wanted to purchase a firearm — a 43 percent increase over the previous Friday through Sunday and a 39 percent jump over those same days on the first weekend of July,” the article said.

“The biggest spike was on Friday,” said the article, “when there were 1,216 checks, a 43 percent increase over the average number for the previous two Fridays.”

It appears that there’s at least some self-defense interest behind the run on guns. The Post article also says that firearms instructors are seeing “increased interest” from people who want to take the training needed to get a concealed-carry permit.