PA Bill Number: HB1661
Title: Further providing for schedules of controlled substances; and providing for secure storage of xylazine.
Description: Further providing for schedules of controlled substances; and providing for secure storage of xylazine. ...
Last Action: Act No. 17 of 2024
Last Action Date: May 15, 2024
Western Pa. sheriffs eye surge in gun carry permits after Paris attacks :: 11/18/2015
Josh Loalbo and Rob Carrig said they had been planning to apply for licenses to carry concealed handguns.
But after gunmen and suicide bombers killed at least 129 people in Paris, the Oakmont roommates decided Tuesday to head to the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office and fill out forms to start the process.
“It's not that it really hits home because the attacks didn't happen here,” Loalbo, 21, said. “It's just the idea that they're targeting anyone with a Western way of life.”
“You never really know what's going to happen,” Carrig, 23, added after he received his permit.
Requests for licenses to carry concealed handguns jumped sharply in some Western Pennsylvania counties Monday and Tuesday, a reaction some sheriffs' offices said they have come to expect in the days after mass shootings and terrorist attacks.
The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office processed 121 permits Tuesday and 104 permits Monday, more than double the daily average of about 50, said Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus.
“There's been a significant increase, which usually occurs after incidents such as in Paris,” Kraus said. “The line will go clear out the door, wrap around to the courtyard, and I would estimate the amount of phone calls quadruple.”
Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held said his office processed 46 permits Monday, up from the 30 it processes in a normal day. The office was offering permits Tuesday evening at a satellite office in Scottdale.
“People feel a great need to protect themselves, and they get the legal documents to carry firearms,” Held said.
Applications jumped in Butler County as well.
“It's 104 for Monday and Tuesday,” Sheriff Michael T. Slupe said. He said there were 37 applications total the previous Monday and Tuesday. Normally, his office gets about 30 applications a day, he said.
“It's a reaction from the public and their need to feel safe.” Slupe said. “When Sandy Hook happened, I was out front (in his office), and we did 100 a day easily.”
Kraus and Held said applications for permits surged after the June 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., in which 12 people were killed, and the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 students and six staffers were killed.
Sheriffs in Armstrong and Beaver counties said they did not see an increase in applications after the Paris attacks.
About lunchtime Tuesday, people packed the Allegheny County Courthouse office, where they filled out concealed carry applications, had photos taken and received laminated ID cards if approved. The line moved quickly.
Barry Ralph, 45, of Dormont visited the courthouse to renew his permit, which expires every five years. The attacks in Paris didn't influence his decision or those of several others renewing permits.
Bill and Nancy Koester traveled from Bridgeville to apply for their licenses. The couple bought his-and-hers handguns over the weekend and planned to give them to each other as Christmas gifts. After the attacks in Paris, Nancy Koester wanted to apply for her license soon.
“This thing with Syria and all that stuff going on, it scares me,” Nancy Koester, 64, said as she and her husband, 66, left the sheriff's office with their concealed carry licenses. “Especially if Pennsylvania is going to let in Syrian refugees.”
Gov. Tom Wolf and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto did not back down from pledges to welcome Syrian refugees to Pennsylvania. Peduto has asked area agencies to determine whether Pittsburgh can handle 500 refugees a year.
Kraus said everyone who applied for a license Monday in Allegheny County stated they did so for self defense. He said that people mark self defense as their reason for applying for a license 99 percent of the time.
Counterterrorism experts say well-coordinated assaults carried out by foreigners are less likely in the United States, in part because of tougher accessibility to the mainland and better intelligence-gathering since 9/11. But they acknowledge such attacks cannot be ruled out.
At the University of Dayton in Ohio, Mark Ensalaco, who has studied Middle East terrorism and is the school's director of human rights research, said the greater, immediate threat in the United States is probably from homegrown Islamic State sympathizers the FBI says are being recruited constantly, often through social media messages that urge them to commit violence on their own.
“The possibility of lone wolves carrying out attacks, that's high, and I'm concerned that it can be even higher if they're inspired by this,” Ensalaco said of the Paris attacks.
Some gun store operators in Allegheny County said they did not have increased sales over the weekend and Monday. Sales increase after violent attacks in the United States but not after terrorist attacks and violence in other countries, said Sam Berridge, who runs National Armory LLC in Moon.
In Pennsylvania, licenses to carry concealed handguns cost $20. People must appear in person at the sheriff's office to be photographed and sign their permits. They must have a valid Pennsylvania ID. Applicants go through a state background check.
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9458288-74/monday-county-office#axzz3ru6D65N3
