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Requests for gun permits soared this summer<\/a><\/p>\n There may be snow on the ground before Euric Rutherford can even submit his application in person for a new permit to carry a firearm.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting a permit to carry right now \u2014 it\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d said Rutherford after speaking with someone from the Ramsey County Sheriff\u2019s Office. \u201cAnd they tell me it\u2019s going to take four months to turn in my paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ramsey County Sheriff\u2019s Office hasn\u2019t yet replied to an MPR News request for comment. However, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff\u2019s Office said high demand and the need for spacing out in-person visits due to COVID-19 have led to long wait times. A person seeking an application appointment this week in Hennepin County will have to wait until December before they can turn in their paperwork.<\/p>\n Whenever Rutherford is able to submit his application, he\u2019ll become one of the thousands of Minnesotans applying for new permits this year. In Ramsey County, where Rutherford lives, the number of new applications in June, July and August rose sharply over the summer of 2019. In July, Ramsey County received 567 new permit applications, an increase of nearly 250 percent over July of 2019. The data do not indicate how many people had never carried a permit before or, like Rutherford, didn\u2019t renew permits in time before they lapsed.<\/p>\n A graph showing the number of gun permit applications Reported violent crime has also gone up in Minneapolis and in St. Paul. Rutherford said his Frogtown neighborhood in St. Paul is relatively quiet, but he wants to get a new permit to carry because he travels to parts of Minneapolis that have seen more violence.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as I can see there\u2019s been an uptick in shootings, muggings, robbings,\u201d he said. \u201cAlso it\u2019s a right that you can carry a firearm. It\u2019s not a privilege. It\u2019s a right.\u201d<\/p>\n Firearms industry professionals say the current rash of violence in the cities, the unrest following the police killing of George Floyd and the coronavirus pandemic is driving a growth in new customers.<\/p>\n In MarchGun sales soar amid coronavirus outbreak The club offers the classes required by state law for people seeking permits to carry. Williamson said new gun owners and new permit holders need to get familiar with different types of guns in order to find the right one and learn how to safely handle and store them. And he said people really need to embrace the responsibility that goes along with carrying a firearm in public.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they use it, it\u2019s going to change their lives. And we recommend they don\u2019t use it,\u201d said Williamson. \u201cA lot of people who come in actually end up buying Mace and Tasers. And we recommend they use the Mace and Tasers first.\u201d<\/p>\n Gun sales also on the rise A graph showing the number of gun permit applications Gun sales have been happening at a fast clip since March at Bill\u2019s Gun Shop stores in Robbinsdale, Circle Pines and Hudson, Wis. Owner John Munson said customers are telling him they\u2019re looking for guns for protection in the midst of the unrest and the pandemic. But he said they are also worried about the upcoming election and the potential for new restrictions on firearm ownership.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Biden camp has come out and said that they believe in a ban on AR-15s and assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines,\u201d said Munson. \u201cThat stimulates the purchasing. Even for people who don\u2019t necessarily want that product. They want to get it because they don\u2019t want someone to tell them they can\u2019t later.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the campaign website, Biden is promising to ban the manufacture and sale of assault-style weapons and accessories among other firearm-related policies.<\/p>\n Munson said one of the most important things that gun buyers should consider is how to keep their guns out of the hands of children and others who shouldn\u2019t have them. He said his staff teaches customers how to properly lock and store guns and ammunition.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t be complacent with that responsibility,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s by far No. 1 for me.\u201d<\/p>\n While people buy guns to protect them from outside threats, firearms often pose more of a threat to people inside the house, said Kate Havelin, who chairs the Protect Minnesota advocacy board. The organization supports mandatory background checks for all gun purchases as well as a so-called \u201cred flag\u201d law that would allow law enforcement to remove firearms from the homes of people showing signs they will harm others or themselves..<\/p>\n Havelin points to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that a gun in the home is more likely to be used on someone in the house rather than on an intruder.<\/p>\n And she points to data from the state Health Department showing that most gun deaths in Minnesota are the result of suicide.<\/p>\n \u201cSuicide attempts with guns usually end in death,\u201d Havelin said. \u201cAnd people who try and kill themselves with any other method, it\u2019s much more likely they\u2019ll survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Mental health experts have also said the uncertainty and economic hardship caused by the pandemic is taxing the emotional health of everyone. And they fear adding a firearm to that mix is potentially lethal.<\/p>\n Medical professionals warn gun owners to take extra care keeping firearms out of the reach of children, who are spending more time at home during the pandemic.<\/p>\n Euric Rutherford said he keeps his guns safely stored, but doesn\u2019t hide them from his children who are 9 and 14 years old.<\/p>\n \u201cI showed them the firearm. I didn\u2019t allow them to touch the firearm,\u201d said Rutherford. \u201cAnd I explained to them, \u2018if they ever see a firearm out, run and get an adult.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Requests for gun permits soared this summer There may be snow on the ground before Euric Rutherford can even submit his application in person for a new permit to carry a firearm. \u201cGetting a permit to carry right now \u2014 it\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d said Rutherford after speaking with someone from the Ramsey County Sheriff\u2019s Office. \u201cAnd … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,29,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rkba","category-safety","category-self-defense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60051,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60050\/revisions\/60051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHennepin County also saw a huge increase in permit applications over the summer. In June, the county received 1,588 applications for new permits, 371 percent more than the number applied for in June of 2019.<\/p>\n
\nAmid protests and virus fearsFirearm background checks hit all-time high
\n\u201cWe\u2019re seeing an influx of people who have never thought they would own a gun before \u2014 never shot a gun before,\u201d said Chris Williamson, who works at the Osseo Gun Club. \u201cAnd they\u2019re coming in for personal protection, home protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIn March there were more than 96,000 FBI point of sale background checks conducted in Minnesota, a 28 percent increase over last March. Those numbers remained high throughout the summer. The number of background checks is widely accepted as an indicator of gun sales, but the FBI warns the number of checks does not correspond one to one with the number of guns sold. A person undergoing a background check may buy one or more guns or buy no guns at all.<\/p>\n
\nCertain types of firearms require the buyer to first obtain a permit to purchase from a local law enforcement agency. Minneapolis police say they\u2019ve received more than 2,500 applications through the end of August. That\u2019s an increase of 159 percent over the same period last year.<\/p>\n