For some in Michigan, having guns around was just an everyday part of life. Now, they feel like they need to carry them all the time due to increased security concerns. It’s not terrorism, just a string of rather violent incidents. At least that was the case for Scott and Cherie McCullough, especially after Jason Brian Dalton, an Uber driver, went on a rampage that killed 6 people in February, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Across the state, applications for concealed carry permits are spiking, with anxiety over this election season contributing to the increase:
Although the jump in applications is more pronounced in Macomb County, both Oakland and Wayne, as well as other counties in the state, are also seeing more people lining up for permits to carry concealed weapons.According to the Michigan State Police website, 528,320 of Michigan's 9.9 million residents were licensed to carry concealed weapons as of March 1. By March 24, the number of approved CPL applications rose to 539,036 statewide, according to State Police data accessed by the Macomb Clerk's Office, a jump of more than 10,000 in just 24 days.
There were 96,101 permits approved in Wayne County; 67,241 permits approved in Oakland County, and 48,795 approved in Macomb County, according to the March 1 report by State Police.
The uptick started after a Dec. 1 change in state law that, in part, speeds up the time to get a permit and eliminated three-member county boards that approved or denied permits. That work is now done by county clerks with State Police conducting background checks on applicants.
The presidential election may also be driving up applications, according to county officials, gun shop owners and CPL instructors, who say uncertainty during election years tends to fuel concerns that gun laws will change. That fear is amplified after mass shootings, such as the recent ones in Kalamazoo and Oregon.
The uptick in sales and permit applications is occurring across the country, even in blue states. In New Castle County, Delaware, the spike in crime has even forced some anti-gun supporters, like Dominique Carpio, who is a senior at the University of Delaware, to buy a firearm. Right now, she’s not allowed to carry on campus, but she has applied for a concealed carry permit. Still, Delaware has seen a surge in permit applications and gun sales.
Iowa has seen the same spike in gun sales and permit applications recently, with some gun stores running low on inventory; Minnesota also is experiencing a rise in permit applications. This comes after we’ve has successive record-setting months in gun sales across the country. Yet, while crime and fears of terrorism certainly add to the list of reasons why more Americans are lining up to exercise their Second Amendment rights, nothing boosts this more that Obama and the Democrats.
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