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Record numbers seek permits to carry concealed weapons
By GLENN E. RICE
The Kansas City Star

DAVID EULITT
Concealed weapons training at Great Guns in Liberty includes practice on an indoor firing range. Jerica Unger shot at targets with a .22-caliber handgun.
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With protective ear muffs on, the 31-year-old Independence woman waits for the firearms instructor to give the signal before squeezing off a series of shots.

“We’ve got a marksman right here,” she exclaims. “Lord help anyone breaking into my house.”

Across the Kansas City area, record numbers of people like Poynter are applying for permits to carry concealed weapons. The surge reflects the fears of rising crime in a down economy and concerns that the election of President Barack Obama might bring new limits on gun rights.

Clay County has seen the biggest increase.

From Jan. 1 through the end of May, 801 Clay County residents applied for permits to carry a concealed weapon — compared with 863 in all of 2008.

Sheriff Bob Boydston said that in January the line of applicants stretched across the office. Each week, the line got longer.

Eventually, Boydston had to pull deputies from other duties to handle the demand. The county has gone from accepting applications two days a week to five.

“They are afraid that weapons and ammunition will not be available, but there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding fueling this,” Boydston said.

Since Obama’s election, gun dealers nationwide have reported strong sales, and ammunition makers can’t keep up with demand.

Ken Novak, an associate professor and the chairman of the criminal justice and criminology department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the economy is prompting homeowners to take extra measures to protect themselves and their families.

“They perceive crime is going up and will act on that,” Novak said.

In Kansas City, violent crime in the first four months of the year was up 10 percent compared with the same period last year. Aggravated assaults were up 20 percent, at 1,265, and the homicide count — 34 — was 17 percent higher than a year earlier. Rapes and robbery were down about 5 percent.

Novak said, however, that there is no measurable evidence that concealed-carry laws deter crime.

Supporters of concealed-carry say the law has fulfilled its mission of giving people the ability to protect themselves.

Rachel Parsons, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, said the group has noticed a nationwide increase in applications for concealed-carry permits.

“Folks have a reason to worry, and that is why they are going out in droves, purchasing guns and ammunition and getting their right-to-carry permit,” Parsons said. “After 9/11 and (Hurricane) Katrina, people have learned the police will not always be there and they want to be able to protect themselves and their families.”

She said those seeking concealed-carry permits point to Obama’s record in the Illinois Legislature.

As a state senator, Obama supported bans on semiautomatic weapons and tighter firearms restrictions in general. He also voted to leave gun manufacturers and dealers open to lawsuits, and he has said local jurisdictions should be able to regulate guns to reduce crime on city streets.

But Obama also has said that owning guns, including handguns, is an individual right and an American tradition and should remain legal.

Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said there was no tangible evidence that the Obama administration would seek to curtail ammunition purchases or limit gun rights.

“To think Obama is going to take their guns away is stupid. The man has his hands full,” Hamm said. “The calls of gloom and doom that are being sold out there are not only untrue but not healthy.”

Joining Poynter in the recent concealed-carry class in Liberty was Dan Pulliam, 39, of Excelsior Springs. Pulliam said he wanted the permit so he could carry a handgun to protect himself and his wife when they’re driving in some of the more remote parts of town.

“There are too many weirdos out there, and I like to have something, just in case,” Pulliam said.