Gun permits could hit new high

A 22 caliber target pistol during a session at Shooters Pistol Range in New Milford on Thursday night. March 10, 2016, in New Milford, Conn. A 22 caliber target pistol during a session at Shooters Pistol Range in New Milford on Thursday night. March 10, 2016, in New Milford, Conn. Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Gun permits could hit new high 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

People in Greater Danbury are obtaining gun permits at a faster rate than they did in 2013, when permit applications spiked across Connecticut in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings.

An analysis of new pistol permits issued over the last 51/2 years by Hearst Connecticut Media suggests if the 2016 trend continues, 1,875 new gun permits will be issued in Danbury and seven surrounding towns, an increase of 30 percent over the region’s high-water mark in 2013.

Observers say people who until recently had no need for a gun are suddenly reserving the right to own one for two main reasons:

They are concerned they will lose their right to protect themselves if federal lawmakers succeed in passing gun control legislation.

They are concerned about the government’s ability to protect them in the wake of terrorism and mass shootings.

“There is a lot of truth to that,” said Bethel Police Chief Jeffrey Finch, whose town has seen more gun permits issued in the first six months of this year than in all of 2013. “People I know who couldn’t be bothered with guns before now want to get an AR-15, because they think their right to buy one is going to be taken away.”

Statewide numbers tell a similar story. So far this year, 16,000 people have received pistol permits, compared to 25,000 in all of 2013.

“Without a doubt, we saw a dramatic increase in 2013 after the events of Dec. 14, 2012, and we are seeing it spike again this year,” said Newtown Police Chief James Viadero, referring to the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.

“People say ‘Chief, I would just like to have a gun in the home for personal protection,’ and you have to admit they do have a legitimate concern,” Viadero said. “You had the event at the Pulse in Orlando and then Dallas happened last week, and now you wake up and see what just happened in France.”

Viadero was referring to the 49 people slain in June in Orlando, Fla., the five police officers shot to death on July 7 in Dallas, and the terrorist attack last week that killed at least 84 people in southern France.

Observers said more people decide to get gun permits after a terrible crime for the same reason gun sales increase after mass-casualty events.

“It’s a national trend that gun sales and permit applications spike after a mass shooting hits the news, and Bethel is part of that trend,” said Matt Knickerbocker, Bethel’s top elected leader. “People think ‘Oh no, this is going to be the event that makes Congress restrict guns, so I better get one now.’ ”

Bethel is the most dramatic example of a larger trend across the state in a year where terrorism and domestic gun violence have been prominent and divisive topics in the presidential primaries.

Bethel issued 77 permits in 2012, which was average for the town. That number spiked to 122 permits in 2013 following the deaths of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the intense debate about gun control that resulted. In 2016, the town has surpassed that number, issuing 123 gun permits, with six months left in the year.

“Bethel is a microcosm of the rest of the state and indicative of the realization by Connecticut residents that the police are not going to be everywhere to protect you,” said Scott Wilson, president of the 23,500-member Connecticut Citizens Defense League, a Second Amendment advocacy group, which has added about 2,000 members since the beginning of the year. “So, every day, you see more ordinary people who have never owned a gun starting to realize they need to be responsible for taking action for their own safety.”

A gun industry spokeswoman said the surge in gun permits is part of a national trend, although national permit numbers were not immediately available.

“We are seeing all over the country, Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights because they see the government cannot always be there,” said NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen. “From the San Bernardino shooting in December to the Orlando shooting last month, Americans want to protect and defend themselves, and that is part of what you are seeing in Connecticut.”

Security questions

The irony about the widespread spike in gun permits is that it comes at a time when serious crime is in decline.

Locally, Ridgefield consistently ranks as Connecticut’s safest town, and Danbury has one of the lowest crime rates in the state.

But many people in greater Danbury are apparently feeling less safe.

“Crime is down, yes, but perception can be every bit as serious as the facts,” Finch said. “The government still tells us that they are taking care of everything, but nobody believes that anymore.”

Shooting instructors, such as William Reed, said popular perception is a powerful influence on people’s actions when it comes to gun permits.

“It goes up and down based on what is going on in the world. You have these mass shootings, and nobody wants Hillary (Clinton) to win because they think she is going to take away their guns,” said Reed, an NRA-certified instructor with homes in Stonington and Bethel. “After the Paris attacks happened, we had a huge increase in permits because people were afraid.”

Reed was referring to the terrorist attacks in Paris in mid-November that killed 130 people. He predicted Greater Danbury would see more permit applications in the fall with the approach of the November presidential election.

A local police chief said he expected the rise in permits to continue.

“Last month, we had 21 new applications come in,” said Monroe Police Chief John Salvatore, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, whose town issued 97 permits in 2012. “We are seeing about three times as many permits this year, and it does seem to be connected to the national discussion about restricting access to firearms.”

Knickerbocker said he has seen several people he knows make the conversion from non-gun owners to permit holders recently in the name of personal security.

But he challenged the assumption that more guns in citizens’ hands enhances a community’s safety.

“I am finishing a master’s degree in public administration, and there is no research that supports that argument,” Knickerbocker said. “But there is a massive amount of scholarly research that equates more guns in society with higher rates of death, and strong evidence that shows states with stricter gun laws have lower death rates.”

The president of a Ridgefield shooting range said he has nothing against expanded background checks and other modest forms of gun control, but others are suspicious of it.

“We are generally going to see a spike in gun permits in an election year, and this year obviously guns are a hot topic,” said Rob Power, president of the Ramapoo Rifle and Revolver Club. “I have talked to a couple of students recently who have told me, ‘I’m getting this (permit) now while I can, because I just don’t know what is going to happen.’ ”

rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342