Guns in Platte County

“No one has done more for gun ownership than Barack Obama…He has been the most successful salesman for people having the right to bear arms in modern history.” -Newt Gingrich

Guns. It’s a topic nearly everyone has an opinion on, especially after a tragedy. But is Newt correct?

Earlier this year Obama unveiled his plan to increase gun control measures. Some of his proposed actions included:

• Requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, including private sellers that are currently exempt. 
• Limiting magazines to 10 rounds.
• Banning the possession of armor-piercing bullets to anyone but military and law enforcement.

But does the general public feel that less guns=less crime?

I’m working on an article about guns and concealed carry so I did a little digging on local statistics. Thanks to the very responsive Platte County Sheriff’s Department, I had results in no time. Here’s what I found out:

Between 2011 and 2012, Platte County saw a 30% increase in CCW applications. Three months into 2013 and they had received 250 new permit applications (as of March 31, 2013). Also interesting? A sheriff’s department sergeant told me:

“It is also worth mentioning that in the month of March, 2013, 121 new CCW applications were processed by the Sheriff’s Office.”

That means that in the month of March alone, there were 22% of applications for the entire year of 2012. It seems like there have been a lot of national shooting tragedies lately, but does that mean people want to get rid of guns? The statistics say no.