Conceal & Carry Permits Up

Gun shops in the Mid-Missouri area have been seeing record numbers of customers. On Wednesday law enforcement said the amount of people wanting to conceal and carry their guns was also increasing.In the last nine years more than 4000 people in Cole County got conceal and carry permits. “Anyone that is 21 years of age and doesn’t have a criminal background can legally acquire a hand gun. If they want to hide it on person that is when they have to get the permit,” said Jim Hill from Target Masters in Columbia.Last year 643 people got their permits. That number is up from the 482 the year before. “We have filled every Sunday class between now and march. There is a surge there we are putting about 40 people a month for conceal and carry” said Hill.In order to get the permit you must take a class, pass a finger print criminal background check, and finally get approved through the county. However, the question now is why are so many people going through this process?”I think one people are concerned about their own safety, they recognize that law enforcement in general is not going to be on the scene at that instant when they are necessary,” said Cole County Sheriff Greg White.Gun owners say that, plus mass shooting scenes like sandy hook and aurora, is why some local gun stores have seen their highest sales in history.”We have broken a 23 year sales record four or five times now and any time we break it, we break the previous hit,” said Hill. Target Masters says their latest surge in sales has only been within the last two weeks.In order to get a conceal and carry permit a person will typically pay around $100 dollars for the class, and pay whatever their local sheriffs department charges for the background check.