Minnesota gun carry permits nearly doubled in 2013, data show

Minnesota sheriffs issued more than 60,000 permits to carry handguns in 2013 — nearly twice the amount approved in the prior year.

Nearly 8,000 permits were issued in Hennepin County, with Anoka, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties rounding out the top five issuing counties, according to a report released Friday by the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

The big year-to-year jump may be a statistical quirk. About 20 percent of the applications made in 2013 were for renewals. Permits are valid for five years and the handgun carry law was passed in 2003, so both 2008 and 2013 have been renewal years. There was also a large jump in permit issuances in 2008.

Still, some of the increases were partly reactions to events in the news.

Anoka County saw a spike in carry permit applications after the Sandy Hook school shootings in December 2012 that carried over into 2013, Anoka County Sheriff's Office Commander Paul Sommer said.

Many people were afraid that lawmakers were going to pass restrictions that would make it harder for them to buy and carry guns, he added. "The number of applications doubled. Some months we had four to six times our normal number of applications as the political rhetoric on both sides of the gun control debate heated up."

The number of permit holder-related crimes jumped from 296 in 2012 to 1,023 in 2013, according to the BCA data.

That spike, however, may be due to an increase in reporting from local law enforcement agencies, said Bruce Gordon with the state Department of Public Safety. Even though all state law enforcement agencies are supposed to report data on permit holder related crimes some didn't until 2013, so the BCA "reached out to law enforcement communities in 2013 and reminded them of that requirement."

Fewer than 30 permits were either revoked or voided in 2013; another 28 were suspended.

A permit holder who gets arrested will not automatically lose their permit. Depending on the offense, a permit can be suspended and the permit holder may be required to turn in his or her gun while the case is going through court. If the permit holder is convicted of an offense that makes them ineligible under state law to possess a gun, then the permit will be revoked.

More than half of the reported crimes were DWIs and other traffic offenses. Police didn't specify or didn't know in most of those cases whether or not the person was carrying a gun at the time of their arrest. There were fewer than 100 violent offenses, such as assaults or robberies, reported that involved permit holders.

However, these numbers represent a tiny fraction of the crimes committed in the state every year. "Very few people arrested in the county are permit holders," said Sommer.

"The fact of the matter is there is very, very little bad behavior among permit carry holders," said Kevin Vick, a federally licensed firearms dealer in Lakeville who produced a video on permit holders last year. "I see no reason to think that that's not going to continue into the future."

Crime may be lower in the suburbs compared to urban areas, but people are still arming themselves for safety reasons, he added.

"We have a lot of people who live out in the country...and response times by sheriff's departments can often be very extended," said Vick. "It's a common phrase by law-abiding gun owners is that, 'when seconds count, police are only minutes away.'"