According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota sheriffs issued more firearms permits with 96,554 in 2020 than in any other year since the state’s Personal Protection Act was enacted in 2003.

Dakota County reportedly issued 7,754 permits last year, which was second only to Hennepin County with 11,346.

For Eagan’s Nikki Watson, her new interest in firearms was due to pandemic blues and for personal protection.

Watson was into trap shooting about 10 years ago.

“I really enjoyed it,” she said, “but it’s not a cheap hobby.”

As a single mother of four and full-time real estate agent, she had plenty to do, so her hobbies took a back seat.

It was on her mind though, as she drives by Stock & Barrel, a shooting range and pro shop in Eagan, on the way to work.

“My brokers, they talk all the time about female safety,” she said. “I kept saying to my friends, we should check that out.”

About a year and a half ago during an open house, she said: “I felt so uncomfortable. I was thinking about my personal safety all the time. I thought: ‘This is the day I die.’ That was right about the time a real estate agent was abducted and murdered.”

Monique Baugh, a 28-year-old real estate agent, was murdered on New Year’s Eve in 2019.

She was reportedly lured to a house showing in Maple Grove where she was abducted and then shot in Minneapolis. Cedric Berry, 41, and Berry Davis, 40, were both indicted by a Hennepin County grand jury with first-degree, premeditated murder and kidnapping.

A few months later in 2020, Watson said she was out with friends when she was attacked.

“I’ve always considered myself a strong female,” Watson said. “I’m in good shape. I always thought I would be the one to fight in that situation, but I totally froze. That prompted me to get focused on more self-defense protocols. I knew I had to take some classes.

“I never really had any courses (in gun safety). How do you take them apart? Clean them? How do you hold them with proper posture? I like to gain as much knowledge as possible.”

She took the basic classes, but she really got hooked after taking a women empowerment course and tactical training.

The pandemic gave her some time to revisit her former interests. She took to handguns right away.

“I was able to make new friends too – make those connections with people who have a similar hobby,” Watson said. “I think there’s a huge misunderstanding of who gun owners are. The only ones you see on TV are typically characterized as extremists. But this is what a gun owner looks like. This is what it means to have this safety and to have this hobby.”

Watson is not the only one looking into the sport.

According to Kevin Vick with Stock & Barrel, January gun sales were nearly double than that of a year ago in Minnesota, and about 40 percent of those people have never owned a gun.

“We’ve also had a six-fold increase in our training revenues,” Vick said. “The good news is, if someone comes in and they’re new to firearms, they’re very much interested in how to use them safely.”

Individuals wishing to obtain a Minnesota Permit to Carry must apply for the permit with the local sheriff’s office and provide proof of approved firearms training.

The permit-to-carry class has been “extremely successful.” Vick said.

Vick said he’s hearing a variety of reasons for the increased interest.

“With the social unrest last summer, they were made aware that law enforcement can’t be there at all times,” Vick said. “People were flat out told last summer ‘you’re on your own.’ Law enforcement runs toward fire, but they can only be in so many places. That’s a piece of it. There’s the old axiom, ‘when seconds count, law enforcement is only minutes away.’ The chances law enforcement is on the scene when you’re in a situation where you need to use self-defense is small.”

The pandemic also likely influenced behavior.

“People started returning to the sport,” Vick said. “Maybe they were involved when they were younger or they were in the military. They saw it as something they could do in the pandemic.”

Vick said there’s also been an increase is gun collectors looking for special buys.

“It’s like any collection,” Vick said. “People have an assortment. Each gun has a story.”

Hunters were also sharpening their skills for the season, and recreational leagues have been filling the 14-lane gun range.

“I think percentages just increased across the board,” Vick said. “Most people have felt relatively safe and secure in Dakota County. Minnesota is one of the highest per capita carry states in the United States.”

Vick said it’s been a challenge to restock its inventory and ammunition both due to interest and lack of products.

“We’ve been able to utilize some resources with the surge in business,” Vick said. “With more people buying guns, there’s ammunition that comes with it. We were wiped out of supply for a while.”

Like many industries, the ammunition supply chain was disrupted by COVID-19.

“Factories had to close down in many areas and when they opened up, they had to deal with social distancing,” Vick said. “They had to deal with people who were exposed to COVID and had to quarantine. It hindered supply.”

The BCA’s Permit to Carry report is available on the BCA website at https://tinyurl.com/h8udf2t4.