Since Tuesday’s shooting spree at the Clackamas Town Center shopping mall (only fifteen miles from here) applications for CCW permits are up by more than 300% my local sheriff’s department . . .
My job–the one I get (cough cough) paid for–has taken me inside the Sheriff’s office/jail once or twice a week for more than eight years, and I often see one or two people at the CCW desk, filling out their applications or getting fingerprinted for their background checks. Few law-abiding citizens are deterred by either the $52.50 fee or the 2-3 week turnaround time for approved permits to be mailed out.
There’s usually some business at the CCW counter, but I’ve never seen almost a dozen people lined up out the door, waiting for the piece of paper that allows them to (legally) effectively protect themselves. Sheriff’s department sources tell me this has been happening all week, starting after Tuesday’s mall shooting.
An official told me that a normal day will see ten to fifteen CCW applications or renewals, and a busy day might see twenty. This Wednesday the department received fifty-five applications, and yesterday’s traffic had already passed that mark by mid-afternoon. Instead of two to three customers per hour, they’re filling the lobby and lining up out the door.
Many in Congress would like to pretend that this isn’t happening, and will hope that ‘reasonable gun control’ (read: gradual but complete disarmament) can finally be rammed down the people’s throats in the wake of the Clackamas and Newtown, CT tragedies. I hope that some will pay attention to how people are really coming to grips with these situations: by taking steps never to be helplessly shot down themselves.