Stamford gun permits could reach all-time high

STAMFORD — The number of gun permits issued in the city is on pace to reach an all-time high this year.

Stamford residents are obtaining permits this year at a faster rate than they did in 2013, when applications spiked across Connecticut in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings.

“We’re seeing people applying at an unprecedented rate,” Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin said.

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.

The number of gun permits issued in Stamford nearly doubled in 2012 when 330 were granted compared to 175 in 2011. When the state’s gun laws tightened in 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, the number of gun permits issued in Stamford rose to 481. The number dipped below 400 in each of the past two years, but is now on pace to reach an all-time high in 2016. There have been 380 permits issued through just the first six months of the year.

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.

Conklin believes the gun control debate that often follows mass shootings across the country, like in San Bernardino in December and Orlando last month, is one of the main reasons for the spike.

“Every time an event like this happens, it triggers people to apply,” he said. “There seems to be a lot of concern in the community” over gun control.

More Information Pistol permits issued in Stamford 2011 175 2012 330 2013 481 2014355 2015 377 2016380* *January through June

Conklin noted the upward trend picked up steam after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December 2012.

“I think Sandy Hook came into play. I think politics came into play,” he said. “These things are upfront and present in people’s minds.

“These are catalysts, or triggers, for someone who is thinking about getting a gun.”

One negative consequence of the surge in pistol permits is an increase in gun-related incidents.

“Unfortunately, a byproduct of many people getting pistol permits is that you have incidents, you have rounds shot accidentally, you have guns misplaced,” Conklin said.

Meanwhile, the department’s forensics team, which reviews and revokes pistol permits, has become very busy over the past few years.

“It’s becoming more and more of a time-consuming process between issuing, revoking,” Conklin said. “We don’t have anyone dedicated full-time.”

The filing of DPS-3 forms, which are required for the sale and transfer or firearms, is also “exploding,” he added.

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

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 trend across the country, 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,” NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen said. “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.

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. “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.

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.”

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