Gun permits, firearm sales ‘skyrocket,’ sheriff says

Experts point to public fear of violent crime, defunding police, tightening gun laws

WEST CHESTER » The lobby of the Chester County Justice Center has been ground zero for a rise in the number of handgun permits requested by county residents since last summer and fall, at the same time that gun purchases have been seeing another increase across the region.

In the third and fourth quarters of 2020, the demand for permits to carry concealed firearms skyrocketed in the county, meaning that the Sheriff’s Office, located on the first floor of the courthouse and where those wishing to acquire so-called “Licensed To Carry” permits must appear, has been forced to take steps to double the number of applications processed.

“The increase in license-to-carry permits has escalated to the point where we cannot meet demand with one office that is open Monday through Friday,” Chester County Sheriff Fredda Maddox said in a press release. “The only way to try to keep up with the demand for LTC applications is to extend our hours, add more staff and a second office.”

Meanwhile, local gun dealers are seeing heightened activity, with one shop saying that there are lines of customers out their door daily, with phone calls coming in throughout the day.

Asked why the demand is so high for gun purchases, the shop manager asked, “Have you been living under a rock?”

The reason for the increase, those interviewed said, is fear — fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, fear of violence, fear of tightening gun laws.

According to published reports, firearm sales soared in January after a mob-led assault on the U.S. Capitol and the arrival of a new administration that favors tighter gun restrictions.

More than 2 million firearms were bought last month, according to an analysis by the Washing

ton Post of federal gun background-check data. That is an 80 percent year-over-year spike and the third-highest one-month total on record.

Background checks, and sales of firearms and ammunition, have been increasing pace for months. The surge is in line with the record pace set in 2020: Nearly 23 million firearms were bought, representing a 64 percent jump year over year. Sales estimates are based on methodology surveying handgun, long gun, and multiple-gun background checks leading to purchases.

According to the Post, Steven Dulan, who teaches firearms law at Western Michigan University’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School and is on the board of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, quoted reports from first-time buyers who say they no longer trust police departments to protect them, especially after some agencies were overwhelmed by protesters during the summer.

“The folks that said they would never become a gun owner were trusting the police to protect them, and that delusion has been dispelled,” he said.

In the fall, misinformation swelled amid one of the most divisive presidential campaigns in U.S. history. President Donald Trump refused to accept his loss in the Nov. 3 contest and spent weeks pressing baseless claims of voter fraud. And then the year’s political havoc spilled over into 2021.

On Jan. 6, a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral-college votes finalizing Joe Biden’s victory. The attack resulted in the deaths of a Capitol Police officer and four rioters, and injuries to about 140 police officers, authorities have said.

But Maddox declined to say what she believed might be behind the push.

The Chester County Justice Center on West Market Street in West Chester is a less busy place than in its 13-year history, all because of coronavirus.

“The Chester County Sheriff’s Office cannot speculate as to why there is an increase in the request for gun permits,” Maddox said in response to a query. “However the increase in demand was noticed at the outset of the pandemic and continued to rise as civil unrest and tensions increased in our nation.”

Agreeing with that was Thomas Buglio of Malvern, a founder of the Chester County Gun Sense group who now leads the gun safety arm of the Unitarian Universalist Justice PA organization.

“The pandemic made people feel insecure,” he said Tuesday. “They want to protect their domicile, their home.”

But he added that there had been a “tremendous amount of misinformation” spread by both the rightwing and left-wing about safety from attacks, which made people “fearful and insecure.”

Whatever the reason for more gun purchases, Buglio said that what concerned him is what might result from more firearms in the community. Statistics show, he said, that with increased gun presence comes more accidental shootings and deaths. Even though LTC permits require a form of background check, they do not require safety classes or lock requirements, he said.

In 2019, the CCSO issued a total of 5,704 LTC permits. In 2020, the CCSO issued 6,072 LTC permits. As of mid-February 2021, the CCSO had processed 1,059 permits, and there are currently 4,300 additional applicants already scheduled for an appointment for a permit.

In 2019, the Sheriff’s Office processed, on average, two new LTC permit applications every 15 minutes, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. This amounted to approximately 50 new applicants served daily.

While at the start of the pandemic some surrounding counties stopped processing LTC applications, the CCSO continued to process applications for gun owners whose licenses were about to expire, even after Gov. Tom Wolf granted an extension on LTC renewals.

The Sheriff’s Office release identified other adjustments it had made in the permitting process over the last year, including:

• Adding an electronic payment method to serve applicants who desire a permit, but do not have cash on hand at their application appointment.

• Implementing an online appointment-scheduling system that allows applicants the ability to schedule appointments 24/7; avoids the expected problems, and likely security issues, that an in-person, first come-first served system would bring, especially with the huge increase in demand of people wanting LTC permits; and frees up CCSO staff to focus on processing applications, rather than answering telephone calls to schedule application appointments.

In 2019, the CCSO issued a total of 5,704 LTC permits. In 2020, the CCSO issued 6,072 LTC permits. As of mid-February 2021, the CCSO had processed 1,059 permits, and there are currently 4,300 additional applicants already scheduled for an appointment for a permit.

To contact staff reporter Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.