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Ben Carmen selected an AR-15 from a rack inside the Boise Gun Company store he manages, Tuesday, and set it down on the glass counter top of a display case.

“Probably one of our more popular guns we sell,” he said.

Carmen demonstrated the array of accessories the light-weight, semi-automatic cousin of the U.S. military’s M16 could accommodate: different stocks, grips, lights, lasers, etc.

The gunmen in this year's shootings in Colorado, Oregon and – most recently – Connecticut all used different versions of those stocks, grips, lights and lasers on the AR-15s they selected as their weapons of choice.

“[It’s a] sad situation what happened on Friday in Connecticut,” Carmen said. “Definitely our thoughts and prayers go out to all the friends and families of the victims.”

In the days after the Sandy Hook shooting, a pair of national retailers (Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart) announced they would remove the AR-15 from their shelves, whispers grew louder of a national gun ban of the firearm and the Boise Gun Company experienced three of its busiest days in an already banner year.

“I know people are kind of worried about where things are going and what might happen with some of these gun laws,” Carmen said.

Some blame gun sellers and manufacturers for this year’s string of mass shootings, but Tuesday Carmen called that accusation unfair.

“We can’t always decide what [customers] are going to do with [the guns they purchase] or if they end up in the wrong hands,” he said. “[It’s a] constitutional right to own a firearm and until said otherwise we’re going to keep selling them.”