A bill to allow Oklahomans with a concealed-carry permit to openly carry their handguns is headed to the governor, who is expected to sign the legislation that passed the state Senate on Thursday.
The bill, approved by a 33-10 vote, would allow those with a concealed-carry handgun permit to openly carry their firearms in holsters from November 1. Those without such permits could obtain a gun permit and openly carry a firearm if they meet legal criteria, pass a background check and undergo firearms training. . . .
about 125,000 people in the state.
Oklahoma has been one of six states in the country to prohibit the open-carry of firearms, along with Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York and California (handguns only), according to the Brady Campaign, the gun control advocacy group in Washington, D.C. . . .
Some 44 states allow some form of open-carry firearms, with only 11 requiring permits to do so, according to the Brady Campaign. . . .
. . . Van Hollen, speaking inside the Department of Justice room where the permits are printed, said no problems have been reported since the law went into effect six months ago, refuting arguments made by “doomsday people” concerned about legalizing the carrying of concealed weapons.
Van Hollen, who holds the first permit issued by the state, said he firmly believes that people ought to be able to defend themselves and the law empowers law-abiding citizens. But he said it may be impossible to know whether the new law has deterred any crimes from occurring.
“I don’t know that it’s safer and I don’t know that it’s less safe,” he said when asked about the impact of the law that went into effect in November. . . .
The agency had estimated 125,000 permits would be issued in the first year, but after it was issuing the 100,000th one Friday. . . .
In the eight years since Ohio passed a concealed weapons law, county sheriffs have issued 296,588 permits to carry firearms in purses, holsters and vehicles, with more than half of those coming since President Barack Obama was elected. . . .
Back on Nov. 9, 2011, this column checked with DOL to find there were 345,786 active CPLs on the books. Five weeks later, on Dec. 19, that number had jumped to 348,660 active CPLs and as this column reported on April 5, the number had climbed more significantly to 357,782 issued CPLS. That’s a total of 11,996 new CPLs in five months, and subsequently, KING 5 News checked and in one day, the number had jumped to 358,335 active CPLs. That's 553 CPLs in one day. . . .Iowa had issued 36,373 concealed handgun permits by December 28, 2011.
The number of concealed carry permits in North Dakota has more than tripled in the past decade, to more than 16,000. State Bureau of Criminal Investigation records show the agency issued almost 5,500 concealed carry permits in 2011, up 40 percent from the year before. Williams and Ward counties in western North Dakota had about 1,300 concealed weapons permits issued last year, or about 50 more than in Burleigh and Cass counties, which are the state’s most populous counties and located outside the oil patch. . . . Denny Magnusson, of Grand Forks, is one of 43 instructors authorized to teach the state’s mandatory concealed carry classes. Magnusson, who has been a firearms instructor for nearly two decades, said about half of the inquiries he gets are from women. “The more crime that takes place, like a rash of burglaries or a murder, the next day I get phone calls,” he said. “People don’t want to be victims.” . . .
Data from the Kentucky State Police shows 24,908 new permits were issued in 2011 and 19,410 renewals.
That is 45,000 licenses issued in one year — and the license is renewed once every five years.
Totals for the past five years show 176,448 permits issued over the past five years — about 4 percent of the state’s population.
After Pres. Barack Obama’s election in 2008, gun sales in Kentucky spiked. Then, in 2009, the state’s CCDW permits jumped by almost 10,000, a 61 percent increase. . . .
The number of Iowans seeking permits to carry handguns and other weapons has increased 170 percent during the first 11 months of 2011 — a trend one Iowa sheriff calls “unbelievable.”
During the first year in which a new law gave sheriffs less discretion over which residents can be denied permits, 94,516 Iowans sought and received non-professional weapons permits from January through November, the Iowa Department of Public Safety reports.
Data from the state’s three most populous counties show an even greater surge in weapons permits in key urban areas. In Polk, Linn and Scott counties, the number of permits issued thus far in 2011 is 271 percent higher than in 2010. . . .
Agency officials estimate they've received 30,420 applications between Nov. 1, when the law took effect, and Wednesday. They've approved 3,689 applications and printed 3,287 permits over that span. . . .
MADISON, Wis. (WHBL) - Sales of hand-guns have gone up steadily in the days after Wisconsin's new concealed weapons law took effect.
In northeast Wisconsin, shop owner Dan Gussert has seen a 25-percent jump in handgun sales since November first when the concealed carry law took effect. And the state Justice Department has had a 42-percent increase in calls to the hotline that gun dealers must use before they can sell weapons to prospective buyers. Gussert, who owns stores in Green Bay and Suamico, says most of his recent sales were for compact pistols -- the lighter weapons that can easily fit in a pocket-or-purse. Gussert says his sales have actually gone up since the concealed carry law was passed in the spring. . . .
Sales of small guns are up. That's what Dan Gussert, owner of Gus’s Guns in Suamico, said he and other gun dealers are seeing because of the Wisconsin’s new conceal-carry law. . . .
It's no longer a requirement to have four hours of training before receiving a concealed carry permit in Wisconsin, according to JSOnline.com, but one Sussex lieutenant isn't worried.
Rules were written last month that obligated residents interested in carrying a concealed weapon to have the training. However, on Monday lawmakers overturned the minimum requirement meaning people could "pay to take courses that last just a few minutes," and then receive a permit, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said.
Although some officers are outraged by the change, Lt. Jim Gumm of Sussex Police Services doesn't think this will be a major problem in the village.
"I’m not worried, and my reason for that is that police officers have a level of training that prepares us for that sort of thing," Gumm said. "We’re trained to expect the unknown, so I don’t think this will be any different for us as officers." . . .
The Wisconsin Department of Justice has received more than 20,000 concealed carry applications since the law took effect Tuesday.
Data from the state Justice Department show that as of 4 p.m. Friday, 20,476 applications had been submitted. Of those, 879 concealed carry licenses had been approved and 793 had been printed. . . .
State officials have said they anticipate that as many as 200,000 applications could be submitted in the first few months.
To receive a concealed carry permit in Wisconsin, applicants must be at least 21, pass a background check and undergo training. Wisconsin becomes the 49th state to allow people to carry concealed weapons; Illinois is the only state without a concealed carry law. . . .
Ten years after Michigan made it much easier for its citizens to get a license to carry a concealed gun, predictions of widespread lawless behavior and bloodshed have failed to materialize.
Today, nearly 276,000 -- or about four out of every 100 eligible adult Michiganders -- are licensed.
That's more than twice the number predicted when the debate raged over whether Michigan should join the growing ranks of so-called "shall issue" states. . .
Michigan's prosecuting attorneys association led the push against changing the law in 2001. Today, Ionia County Prosecutor Ronald Schafer, president of the group, says it's hard to remember what the fuss was about. . . .
"There haven't been as many incidents as we feared," said Tom Hendrickson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, which vigorously opposed the reforms.
"It really hasn't been an issue ... because so many superseding issues came along," he said. "In the total scheme of things, it just faded away." . . .
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said he had been opposed to the law and was concerned about flooding the streets with guns. But, he said, "it has turned out not as bad as I suspected that it would." . . .
The Texas legislature has passed a bill allowing employees to keep guns locked in their cars while at work. Lawmakers also had considered allowing concealed handguns to be carried onto college campuses.
The legislation begs a question: does it do good or harm to have thousands of Texans legally carrying concealed handguns?
KHOU 11 News took aim at finding some answers.
There are now over 20,000 citizens in Harris County alone licensed to carry concealed handguns.
"Sometimes I have it with me," said Jason Goedert, a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) holder who was recently at the shooting range in George Bush Park in west Harris County.
Goedert and other gun owners said they believe having more citizens carrying concealed guns will deter a criminal who may otherwise try to assault someone. . . .
The number of permits to carry concealed weapons have exploded across mid-Michigan in the 10 years since Michigan opened the flood gates to allow just about anyone to have one.
Like other areas statewide, the most rural places are packing at the highest rates — while more populous urban areas trail with lower numbers of CCWs per capita.
But everywhere, demand is up.
Way up. Many communities locally report the number of permit holders have nearly doubled in just the last five years.
Genesee County had approved 7,100 CCW permits by July 2006, the earliest year the records were available. Now, there are 14,000 — even though the county has lost about 10,000 people in the last decade.
During the same period, Bay County has gone from 1,700 permits to more than 3,000 and Saginaw County from 2,700 to 5,000.
Statewide, one in 26 eligible-age adults has a license to carry. There are more than 270,000 permit holders, double the amount five years ago. . . .
This revelation is currently being discussed on the WA-Guns forum, where Bill Starks, who goes by the internet handle of “m1gunr,” has posted an e-mail exchange he had with the Department of Licensing. As of May 19, the number of concealed pistol licenses was 337,503, which is a considerable jump from last year, when this column was advised that some 270,000 active CPLs were in circulation.
A check with that agency Tuesday morning brought the figure down slightly to 337,336. That’s a decline of only 167 active licenses, and there are any number of explanations for that, with the most likely being that people do not get CPL renewal notices, so they forget to renew. The active CPL figure comes to roughly five percent of the total state population of 6.7 million, but a higher percentage of adults over age 21, which is the minimum legal age to qualify for a CPL in this state. . . .
Nearly 200,000 Ohioans have been issued a license to carry a concealed handgun since the state’s concealed carry law took effect in April 2004.
Here in Lorain County, since 2004, a total of 5,416 concealed carry licenses have been issued. In 2010 alone, the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office issued 852 new licenses, according to data provided by the Attorney General’s Office and Sgt. Diana Nicholl. In 2009, 798 licenses were issued. The number of new applicants has grown annually since 2006.
Neighboring Huron County issued 234 licenses in 2009, and Erie County’s sheriff issued 1,058.
“I think the consensus is that folks want them so they can, if they so desire, carry a concealed handgun to protect themselves, their loved ones or acquaintances,” Erie County Sheriff Capt. Paul Sigsworth said.
When the law first went into effect, opponents argued there would be more crime and weapons assaults. That has largely proven to not be the case, Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti said.
“We haven’t had any big problems since the law took effect in 2004,” Stammitti said.
Sigsworth said Erie County hasn’t had any major problems either.
“We have had very few issues with the folks issued licenses through our agency,” Sigsworth said. “And the vast majority appear to be law abiding ...” . . .
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