Mother Jones
Getting a concealed-carry permit for a firearm from the state of Utah is pretty easy. As I reported in our September/October issue, you don’t have to know how to fire a gun—or even set foot in Utah—to obtain one. That’s why more than 60 percent of the Beehive State’s 473,476 concealed-carry permits belong to non-residents, who take advantage of Utah’s reciprocity with 35 other states.
And they’re doing so in rising numbers: Over the last year, the Deseret News reports, the state has seen a boom in permit requests. The cause? Fear of mass shootings, as well as new gun restrictions, according to a Utah official:
Bureau of Criminal Investigations chief Alice Moffatt said the agency had “bins and bins” of applications in February, March and April when the numbers swelled to more than 18,000 per month. She attributed the surge to last year’s shootings in Connecticut and Colorado and gun control legislation.
“That seems to spur people getting their concealed weapons permits,” she told the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee on Wednesday.
Permit renewals will exceed 40,000 this year, a 42 percent increase, Moffat said.
Visit site:
Utah: Mass Shootings Caused a Surge in Gun Permit Applications
