Associated Press
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) - Many women are among the thousands of Michiganians who have applied for concealed weapons permits since the state’s revised law went into effect in July.
Since then, Oakland County has handed out 3,278 concealed pistols permits, leading Michigan’s 83 counties. Although court rulings hide the identities of permit seekers, Target Sports owner Ray J. estimates the number of women applicants may be as high as 40 percent.
Tuesday evening, the first four range lanes at Target Sports in Royal Oak are occupied by a group of female shooting enthusiasts who’ve each taken advantage of the revised law.
“When I found out how much safer women could be ... what’s my choice there?” Jessica Lutz, co-chair of the local chapter of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, told the Detroit Free Press for a Thursday story.
“One of the things taught in my house was, you have to be self-sufficient,” Lutz said.
Michigan’s law requires that people seeking a concealed weapons permit be 21, pass a safety class, have a clean police record and have no history of mental illness. Previously, permits were only given if applicants could prove a need to carry the concealed weapon.
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said there’s more to gun ownership than just self-defense and training.
“Our position is not so much ‘Everyone who gets a concealed weapon permit is going to go out and commit a crime,”’ Hwa said. “What we are saying is, there are a lot of consequences when people carry concealed weapons.”
Oakland County has expedited the permit process by hiring four people to handle the flood of applications. The pace has slowed since last summer when 40 to 50 people were coming in every day for applications.
“We’re still averaging 20 a day,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Capt. Mike McCabe. “But we’re still backlogged. We’ve got 400 applications in milk crates that we haven’t even touched yet.”
So far, 4,883 people have applied for permits in Oakland County and 1,530 are pending.
In Wayne County, 4,252 people have applied for permits but only 595 have been issued, said Sheriff Robert Ficano.
Through the end of 2001, 75 Oakland residents with misdemeanor convictions had been denied permits.