Gun sales in US soar after 'Dark Knight' shooting tragedy

Washington, July 25 (ANI):Sales of guns in the United States have increased in the aftermath of the shooting tragedy during the screening of the latest Batman film 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

Background checks carried out on customers as they buy guns were up 41 percent in the wake of the shooting that claimed 12 lives and left 58 wounded at a movie hall in Aurora, Colorado.

According to the Denver Post, shares of both Smith and Wesson Holding Corp.and Sturm, Ruger and Co outperformed the broader market during the past two trading days.

Shares of Smith and Wesson were down by less than .01 percent since the close of trading on Thursday, before the shooting took place.

The report said that Wesson manufactured one of the weapons allegedly used by batman-obsessed killer James Holmes.

According to the report, shares of Sturm, Ruger are up 3.6 percent over the same time period.

Smith and Wesson and Sturm, Ruger are the only two publicly-traded gun manufacturers, though their revenues comprise just 25 percent of total US commercial gun sales, as most firearms manufacturers are privately held. (ANI)