More Coloradans than ever are carrying concealed weapons, according to data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which processed 31,518 background checks for concealed carry permits in the first six months of the year.
That’s more than in all of 2011 and just 1,300 fewer than in all of 2012, according to the Denver Post.
During the same period last year, only 16,886 concealed carry background checks were performed.
That may come as little surprise in a year that’s been marked by ongoing and heated debate over gun control. County sheriffs are responsible for issuing concealed carry permits and 55 of the state’s 64 sheriffs are suing Colorado to overturn what they see as overly restrictive gun control laws. These include a law mandating universal background checks and one limiting the size of ammunition magazines.
“We’ve had a significant increase” in concealed carry permit applications, said John Schultz, the spokesman for Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith, one of the more outspoken opponents of the new gun laws.
In fact, the number of concealed carry permits issued in Larimer County in the first six months of the year has increased more than 300 percent since the same period in 2012.
From January to June 2012, the office issued 629 permits; in 2013, the number soared to 1,931.
But Angie Corp, who compiles the data for Larimer County, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that it’s not because Smith has changed how he approves applications, but in the sheer numbers of applications received.
She attributes the increase to a combination of high-profile shootings that have led many to seek options for self defense as well as the controversy around the gun control laws.
“It kind of started last year right around the presidential election,” Corp said, “And then we had the Sandy Hook shooting in December as well and a lot people started applying after that happened.”
“And then in January and February and March and so on, all the gun control issues that were being discussed, they had nothing to do with concealed carry, but we saw a big jump in applications as well,” she said.
She said the pace has since dropped off.
University of Denver associate professor in sociology and criminology Jeffrey Lin told the Denver Post that the increase in armed civilians hasn’t led to an increase in “predatory person-on-person crime,” adding that it’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the increase.
But another professor quoted in the article attributes it to the new gun laws and the often hyperbolic debate surrounding them.
“A lot of people are concerned with what the government did, and they are feeling restricted,” Hillary Potter, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Colorado-Boulder, is quoted as saying.
“It’s groups spreading fear,” she said. “I’m not surprised.”
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