Concealed Carry Permit Applications on the Rise in St. Louis Area

Concealed carry permit applications in St. Louis County, Missouri increased 63% from Aug. to Nov. 2014 compared to the same time period last year. Prior to the Aug. 9, 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, concealed carry permits had been decreasing, with 274 applications in May 2014 compared to 394 in May 2013.

In Aug. 2014, after Michael Brown’s shooting, permit applications rose to 383 (up from 289 in Aug. 2013), and the numbers have continued to increase. 405 permit applications were submitted in Sep. 2014 (up from 256 in Sep. 2013). In Oct. 2014, the number of applications was 112% higher than in 2013 (575 vs. 271). As of Nov. 12, 2014, 286 concealed carry permit applications had been submitted, more than the entire month of Nov. in 2013. Since Aug. 2014, a total of 1,649 people have applied for concealed carry permits in St. Louis County. Concealed carry permit applications are also rising in neighboring St. Charles and Jefferson counties.

State Representative Stacey Newman told FOX2Now St. Louis that concealed carry won’t necessarily make residents safer. “How are our law enforcement, who we call at a moment’s notice to protect use, how are they supposed to know who is the potential bad guy and who isn’t? There is so much here that’s a recipe for disaster.”

Gun stores in the Ferguson area have reported an increase in sales as high as 300% in recent weeks. John Stephenson, owner of Metro Shooting Supplies, told ABC News that people are afraid of what will happen after the announcement of the grand jury ruling in the case of the officer who shot Brown. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Nov. 17, 2014 in anticipation of the response to the grand jury’s decision.

Illinois Becomes 50th State to Legalize Carrying Concealed Guns

On July 9, 2013 Illinois became the 50th state to legalize the carry of concealed guns. Members of the House and Senate overrode Governor Pat Quinn’s veto of the concealed carry legislation by 77-31 and 41-17 margins, respectively.
On Dec. 11, 2012 the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Moore v. Madigan struck down an Illinois state law passed in 1962 that broadly prohibited carrying a gun in public. The Illinois General Assembly faced a court-imposed deadline of July 9, 2013 to pass legislation giving residents the right to carry concealed firearms in public. Members of the General Assembly passed House Bill 183 on May 31, but the legislation was vetoed by Quinn on July 2. Quinn sought to ban firearms from establishments that sell any alcohol, limit a person to carrying one concealed firearm at a time, and restrict magazines for concealed weapons to no more than ten rounds. Three-fifths of the House and Senate had to vote in favor of the bill to override the Governor’s veto.

The law permits residents who have passed a background check and completed 16 hours of gun safety training to purchase a concealed-carry license for $150 ($300 for non-residents). The license is valid for five years, and names of license holders will be withheld from public view. License holders must be 21 years old, guns may be loaded or unloaded, and guns will not be allowed on public or private school premises. The bill also bans concealed guns in businesses where alcohol is a majority of the sales, and it bans licenses for those “addicted to narcotics.”