Shopkeepers and terrified civilians are arming themselves in Paris ahead of fresh protests scheduled for this weekend.
The turmoil in the capital and other French cities has seen protesters looting shops, defacing monuments and clashing with police in the country's most violent unrest in years.
As France braces for a new round of nationwide protests on Saturday, gun shops have reported a surge in demand from customers who say they no longer trust the police to protect their businesses and homes.
Yves Gollety, owner of the Armurerie de la Bourse, a gun shop in Paris, told The Times that demand had risen eight to ten times.
Most customers, he said, were buying gel canisters costing €50 to €60 or a more powerful pistol-shaped weapon costing €500.
Gollety assured that the device, which fires a concentrated jet of irritant, makes it difficult for the attacker to breathe, causes streaming eyes and forces the eyelids shut.
He assured that the device, which can put an attacker down within a matter of seconds, was 'safe' and 'non-lethal', and argued that it was safer than the iron bars and fireworks used by protesters.
In France, these devices can be bought without a permit, while firearms are subject to stricter controls.
Workers lift a wooden panel to board up a shop window ahead of a demonstration planned for October 24, in central Bordeaux, southwestern France on October 22, 2026
Shopkeepers are buying tear guns and sprays (pictured) to defend themselves from looters
Masked protesters stand next to burning bicycles amid clashes during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices near the Place de la Republique in Paris, October 17
Ahead of the protests this weekend, businesses, cultural events and museums will stay shut as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to restore order.
France's main student union, UNEF, has called for rallies on Saturday, while the Yellow Vest movement, an anti-establishment force that emerged in 2018, filed plans this week for a march through central Paris.
Last weekend, protesters vandalised shops across the country during protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
Demonstrators set fires in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities, and at least 2,400 people were arrested.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said the scale of damage in the capital was 'considerable' and 'unprecedented' in an open letter.
Gregoire, alongside the mayors of Lyon and Marseille, requested a meeting with the prime minister to discuss the extent of the damage and the seriousness of the situation.
In Marseille, some protesters briefly forced their way into the City Hall's lobby, and a group of people wearing hoods and masks damaged a police station.
In Lyon, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.
A man walks past stores with display windows protected by wooden panels ahead of protests this weekend
Fire burns the city hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during ongoing protest action against the 'high cost of living', in Limoges, central France on October 17
View of the Fontaine des Jacobins which was vandalised during clashes that erupted during a national day of demonstrations in Lyon, France, October 19
A man throws a plastic traffic cone through a burning barricade amid clashes
A car burns at Republique square during protests
Police take security precautions as streets across Paris during nationwide protests
In Limoges, the City Hall was ravaged by flames after 'radical troublemakers' broke in while elected officials, employees, security personnel and members of the public were inside, Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate said.
'They deliberately set the building on fire. It is an extremely serious and unspeakable act,' he said.
All protests planned for Saturday in Marseille and Lyon have been banned, local authorities said.
Despite the curbs, and what the justice minister said had been 2,700 arrests since Saturday, businesses, institutions and events were planning to close in case of more unrest.
The Marseille Chamber of Commerce urged businesses to shut on Saturday, while organisers of Art Basel Paris said the art fair would be shuttered all weekend.
The Louvre and Foundation Louis Vuitton will be closed on Saturday.
The interior ministry is due to unveil its security plans later on Friday.
Mass protests in France are often marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police.