Christina Hall

Detroit Free Press

Scott and Cherie McCullough have been around guns for years.

But not until recently did the 53-year-olds both feel the need to carry one all the time.

First, there was the Feb. 10 incident involving a woman who stabbed her mother outside the GM Tech Center in Warren, where Scott McCullough works and where a valet supervisor pulled out his concealed pistol, stopping the brutal attack.

Then, there were the random shootings by an Uber driver who killed six people and wounded two others in Kalamazoo in a rampage just 10 days later.

System maintenance to shut down some area CPL services

“Jeez. Anything can happen,” Scott McCullough said, with his wife finishing his sentence: “Anytime.”

Last month, the Sterling Heights couple arrived together to submit their concealed pistol license applications at the Macomb County Clerk’s Office — which is on pace to double the number of CPL applications it has received this year compared with prior years and has hired additional staff to help process the influx.

Although the jump in applications is more pronounced in Macomb County, both Oakland and Wayne, as well as other counties in the state, are also seeing more people lining up for permits to carry concealed weapons.

Database: How many concealed pistol licenses in your county?

According to the Michigan State Police website, 528,320 of Michigan's 9.9 million residents were licensed to carry concealed weapons as of March 1. By March 24, the number of approved CPL applications rose to 539,036 statewide, according to State Police data accessed by the Macomb Clerk's Office, a jump of more than 10,000 in just 24 days.

There were 96,101 permits approved in Wayne County; 67,241 permits approved in Oakland County, and 48,795 approved in Macomb County, according to the March 1 report by State Police.

The uptick started after a Dec. 1 change in state law that, in part, speeds up the time to get a permit and eliminated three-member county boards that approved or denied permits. That work is now done by county clerks with State Police conducting background checks on applicants.

The presidential election may also be driving up applications, according to county officials, gun shop owners and CPL instructors, who say uncertainty during election years tends to fuel concerns that gun laws will change. That fear is amplified after mass shootings, such as the recent ones in Kalamazoo and Oregon.

In the Michigan State Police's most recent annual report, dated Oct. 1, 2014, to Sept. 30, 2015, the number of concealed pistol license applications received was 121,682, with 120,548 applications issued. That's more than double the number of licenses — 53,000 — that were issued from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002, in the first year Michigan's concealed carry law was in effect.

Fifteen years later, some Republicans in the Michigan House would like to do away with licensing completely. Proposed legislation introduced in February would repeal the requirement that a CPL is needed to carry a concealed handgun in Michigan.

Rep. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, a sponsor of one of the bills, said in a news release that the requirements Michigan places on lawful gun owners to carry a concealed weapon is "unnecessary."

But Linda Brundage, executive director of the Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, said the permit-less carry legislation is part of a "gun anytime, anywhere by anyone" idea pushed by gun lobbyists in Michigan.

Brundage — who said her group wants to prevent gun violence, not eliminate gun ownership — said the elimination of the county gun boards was a bad idea.

"We all know people who shouldn't have a gun but might not meet the requirements on the (background check) system," she said. "We want all of that information brought to bear on who should own a gun. It's easier to get a gun in Michigan now than before we lost the gun boards."

Nobody can say with certainty that the elimination of the county gun boards on Dec. 1 is behind the upward trend in CPL applications, but the spike has been most noticeable in Macomb County, which previously was one of the few counties in Michigan where applicants were required to appear in person before the gun board.

Since the change, Macomb County has seen a record number of CPL applications each month There were 1,651 applications filed in Macomb County in December; 1,852 applications in January and 1,855 filed in February. The office was up to 1,494 applications through March 24.

Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh, whose office processes the applications and prints the licenses, said she doesn’t know specifically what's behind the spike, but “I think people have a renewed interest in getting guns.”

If the office continues this pace, it will receive about twice the number of applications this year than during an average year, according to vital records supervisor Brian Brdak. The county commission recently approved $56,517 for two temporary positions to help vital records, which handles the CPL applications and other records, such as birth records and marriage licenses.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham, whose office does fingerprinting for applicants, said “if we stay on this pace since December 2015 we will have about a 48% increase in fingerprints for CPL.”

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said his office is experiencing a similar uptick in fingerprinting for concealed carry applications. It had been processing about 60 to 65 fingerprint requests a day before the law changed in December. That number has since grown to about 85 fingerprint requests per day, officials there said.

“That’s a huge increase,” Napoleon said, adding that he hasn’t assigned extra staff to do the work but if “this continues, we may have to. I think it’s gonna be steady.”

The Wayne County Clerk’s Office received 5,258 CPL applications in December and January — nearly 1,800 more than in December 2014 and January 2015.

Napoleon said with “the shall issue part of the law, people are pretty confident if they apply they will get the permit even if they are not going to carry, they want the opportunity to lawfully carry if they so choose to.”

He said people feel they can protect themselves, if they hear of violence in the community, especially mass shootings.

Napoleon said he personally has “no reservations” about more people obtaining a concealed pistol license. He said his office doesn’t have many problems with people carrying lawfully and that “most problems are with people not carrying lawfully.”

Justine Schlak, vital records supervisor in the Oakland County Clerk’s Office, said her office had 1,988 applications in December and 1,916 applications in January — more than 500 applications higher than November and prior months last year. The totals, however, were still lower than application numbers that were higher than 2,000 in 2013, the year after the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 20 children and six teachers were shot and killed.

Schlak said some of the increase in CPL applications could be from people get training classes as Christmas presents or concerns over the upcoming presidential election.

She said the Dec. 1 law change may have had some impact, with more people who had suspended, revoked or denied licenses or applications coming back to apply again — even though some still are not eligible — thinking the process would be more lenient than when the county gun boards were in place.

Those applying for a concealed pistol license, especially a new one, are making a commitment of time and money to do so.

Scott McCullough said he is “very frugal” with three kids in college and a fourth going to be entering college. But the Kalamazoo tragedy "really hit me" and was enough for him and his wife to fork out $230 for the two CPL applications, $198 for both to attend the CPL class and about $600 for one gun.

Tom Vaughan, one of the owners of Firing Line in Westland, said his gun shop and firing range fills every concealed pistol license class and “we’re filling them up a little bit quicker now” and scheduling into May.

Vaughan, a retired Westland police officer, said his business is seeing more women using firearms, obtaining them mostly for protection. In the last few months, it also is seeing more first-time firearm buyers, such as for a handgun or something for their home.

Vaughan said he believes the upcoming presidential election may be playing a role in more people getting a CPL. He also thinks that lean economic times have left some people feeling "the need to protect themselves more because there are not enough police.”

He said people are arming themselves because “they believe there is a need and because they can. It’s our right to do it."

“We believe in crime control not gun control,” Vaughan said.

Sam Dalaly, a co-owner of Action Impact in Southfield, said the 45- to 50-person classes they host three times a week "are booked two days after we post them." Within the last year, he said, the business starting offering a women's only class with a female instructor — which is also booked — and the gun shop and range opened a second location in Eastpointe last year.

"I don't know what it was, the past five months classes have been booked. Sometimes, we're turning people down," Dalaly said.

He added that gun sales are "sky high," with a lot of new gun buyers. He also said the election year and people concerned the law will change is helping to drive classes and gun sales.

Brad Donnelly, 45, of Fraser said the possibility of changes in the law or gun rights being taken away from citizens "was a motivator" in his decision to apply for a CPL. He wants it for personal protection, saying he has a custom cabinet and mill work company and often carries a lot of cash.

Patrick Grace of Harper Woods said he’s been a pistol owner for 30 years but only got his concealed carry permit about three years ago for personal protection.

“I just wanted to carry. My neighborhood’s gone down,” the 58-year-old said, adding that being a CPL holder also makes it easier for him to transport his gun to Peters Indoor Range and Gun Shop in Roseville, where he practices twice a week. Without the concealed carry license, Grace said he had to unload his gun and lock it in his trunk to go to and from the range.

Samantha Fisher, 26, of Chesterfield Township got her CPL four years ago and was renewing it last month. She works in marketing in downtown Detroit and said she got the license because she works “in a not-so-safe part of Detroit and I’m a small person.”

When she got her permit four years ago, she had to appear before the gun board in Macomb County. She said she thought it was better for applicants to appear in front of the gun board because it was another stage in the process.

Fisher said she’s never had to pull out her gun, but she was in a parking lot in Detroit a couple of years ago when a man started following her around the lot, getting progressively closer to her. Eventually, she turned and lifted her shirt to show her gun “and he turned and went the other way.”

Antonio Shaw, 46, of Warren said he has been a CPL holder since 2006, first in Wayne County when he lived there and then in Macomb County, where he now lives.

Shaw said he did not have to appear before a gun board in Wayne County, but believes the gun boards are a good idea, allowing members to see “who this individual is.” He said people with mental health issues may get permits and sometimes things that should come up on background checks “pass under the radar.”

Of the 2,449 applications denied from Oct. 1, 2014 to Sept. 30, 2015, 97 were deemed detrimental to safety by the county licensing boards while 993 other denials were listed simply as licensing board decision — other, according to the annual State Police report.

Shaw said he’s never had to pull out his gun, which he carries daily.

“(It’s like) American Express,” he said of his concealed gun, “never leave home without it.”

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

Some requirements for obtaining a concealed pistol license in Michigan:

Must be at least 21 years old and a U.S. citizen or an alien lawfully admitted into the U.S.

Must be a legal resident of Michigan and reside in Michigan for at least six months immediately prior to application

Have knowledge and training in the safe use and handling of a pistol by successfully completing a pistol safety training course or class

Not be subject to an order or disposition for, among others, involuntary hospitalization, personal protection order or finding of not guilty by reason of insanity

Not be prohibited from possessing, using, transporting, selling, purchasing, carrying, shipping, receiving or distributing a firearm

Never been convicted of a felony in Michigan or elsewhere and a felony charge against the applicant is not pending in Michigan or elsewhere at the time of application

Not been convicted of certain misdemeanor violations in the eight years immediately preceding the date of application and a charge for any of the misdemeanor violations is not pending anywhere against the applicant at the time of application

Not been convicted of other types of misdemeanor violations in the three years immediately preceding the date of application or have those charges pending anywhere at the time of application

Not have a diagnosed mental illness at the time of application

Have a valid state-issued driver's license or personal identification card

Source: Michigan State Police