Number of Concealed Carry Permit Applications Double After SML Shooting
Posted by jhingarat21 on 14th Sep 2015
More people are trying to buy guns in Franklin County. Since the shooting at Smith Mountain Lake on August 26th, the Franklin County Circuit Court has issued 93 concealed handgun permits.
Ever since the shooting, the Circuit Court Clerk says everyone from families to attorneys are walking in, applying for Concealed Handgun Licenses.The past two weeks have been busy for the Franklin County Circuit Court Clerk’s office.
“We have seen a large volume of concealed handgun permit applications,” said Clerk Teresa Brown.
Browns says her office typically sees 86 concealed carry applications a month but in the last eight business days there have been 93. “It is unusual. It’s a high volume,” she said.
Just down the road at Franklin Outdoors, Sean Purdue says his business has been just as busy. “An 83 year old grandmother was here three hours after the shooting and said I need something,” says Purdue.
He says, “lots and lots of people bought lots and lots of guns. For one thing they didn’t know where the guy was and they were looking for copycats.
Through the week, Perdue says he was selling out of guns. And he says they’re the type of guns people use for protection.
“Conceal carry handguns, big handguns. it doesn’t matter,” he says, “A lot of people are just like, you tell me what I need.”
But he says he was expecting it. And so did the clerk’s office.
“We were, I think we were,” says Brown. “I think the community is concerned.
Brown says the only other time she’s seen so many applications for concealed carry was in 2013. That year they filed 1,385 permits. That’s about 300 more permits than they typically process in a year.