PA Bill Number: SB170
Title: In criminal history record information, further providing for juvenile records; and, in juvenile matters, further providing for powers and duties of ...
Description: In criminal history record information, further providing for juvenile records; and, in juvenile matters, further providing for powers and dutie ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: Oct 2, 2024
Pennsylvania: Gun permits up by 7 percent in 2017 :: 01/03/2018
BEAVER — A record number of Beaver County residents applied for a concealed-carry gun permit in 2017 for the second consecutive year.
Sheriff Tony Guy said Friday he expects the final number of permits issued in 2017 to top 5,700 — as of noon, his office had issued 5,693 permits and a steady stream of residents continued throughout the day.
“This year, we averaged 30 or 35 applicants a day, but since Christmas, it’s been 50, 60, 70 a day,” Guy said. “People are off for Christmas and finding time to come in.”
Concealed-carry permits must be renewed every five years. Guy said that timing has something to do with the high volume of permit requests.
“This is the five-year mark from the Sandy Hook shooting,” he said. “There was a lot of talk about gun control then, and that always has a residual effect.”
The Dec. 14, 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary and spurred a national conversation about gun control. That year, Guy said, the county averaged about 450 permits each month.
In December 2012, nearly 700 were issued.
Those permits are all up for renewal this year, he said.
Meanwhile, December is traditionally one of the busiest months for gun permit requests, Guy said. This year’s Black Friday nationally saw the highest gun sales in history, according to the FBI.
“Typically, renewals drive our numbers, but we do get new applications,” Guy said. “If Black Friday is a big day for gun sales, then naturally December is going to be a huge month for people getting their carry permits for the first time,”
In Pennsylvania, a license to carry, often called a “concealed carry” permit, is required if a person older than 21 wants to carry a gun in a vehicle or otherwise concealed, such as in a pocket or a holster hidden by clothing. A person doesn’t need a permit to own a gun or to carry a gun exposed on his belt, Guy said.
The number of gun permits also doesn’t reflect the number of guns owned in the county, he said.
Guy said he also suspects that people who are moving to the county for work from out of state are contributing to the increase, which is unusual for a non-election year. There was a 7 percent increase between 2016 and 2017. Permits are up 10.6 percent from 2012.
“We’ve been getting swamped the past few days,” Guy said. “And we’ll continue to see that going into the beginning of next year as well.”
http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180102/gun-permits-up-by-7-percent-in-2017
