Paris, October 23 (askanews) – In a gun shop in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, several shopkeepers are stocking up with pepper spray and batons to "intervene if necessary," they say, ahead of the new day of protests planned for the weekend, following the riots and devastation of October 17. "Our customers are mainly restaurateurs and shopkeepers who come to stock up because they were very scared last Saturday. Some were trapped in their shops and suffered physical harm…
So they try to protect themselves in case they are physically threatened with products that are always non-lethal,” explains Yves Gollety, owner of a gun shop and president of the National Chamber of Gunsmiths, “paralyzing sprays, things like that. They are very worried.” “We had the yellow vests,” he explains, “someone had stocked up at the time, but it was an occasional thing…
This is the first time that all segments of the population have been affected by what happened, that people were also afraid because they were left without seeing police in some neighborhoods for up to three hours." Antoine Aufrere, a pub manager, doesn't know what to do, with the curfew he has lost customers but he is afraid.
“The last time, the situation was pretty heated… we saw that the police couldn't protect us. Now we're starting to see wooden boards on shops everywhere. I'm wondering: should I put them up or not? At the same time, closing a pub for one day means a huge loss. I don't know what the right solution is, but in any case, I'll take whatever steps necessary to intervene.”
Askanews