THE SALESMAN

Gun Dealer Who Sold to Vegas Killer: ‘My Gut Fell Out From Underneath Me’

He recognized Paddock as having purchased a weapon earlier this year.

The Utah gun-shop owner who said he sold a firearm to suspected Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, 64, spoke for the first time late Monday. “My gut fell out from underneath me,” said Chris Michel, owner of Dixie GunWorx in St. George, told The Spectrum & Daily News. “I mean, it was the worst thing I could ever imagine.” Michel said he recognized Paddock as having purchased a shotgun—a weapon he did not use in the mass shooting—from his store earlier this year. “He was a normal, average ‘Joe Blow’ kind of guy,” Michel added. “There was nothing special that happened. He came in a couple of different times, we dealt with him as a normal customer.” Paddock reportedly opened fire late Sunday on attendees of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, killing at least 59 people and injuring hundreds others. Michel said the blame falls entirely on Paddock, who “made the worst mistake” and not at all on the gun dealers who sold him the alleged arsenal he had with him during the shootings.