Requests for gun permits shoot up in city after terrorist attacks

Josey1

Requests for gun permits shoot up in city after terrorist attacks Lock and load, City of Brotherly Love.In the city that ratified the U.S. Constitution, more Philadelphians are exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon outside Washington, D.C.According to Police Department statistics, applications for new gun permits shot up 51.8 percent in the two-week period following the Sept. 11 attacks, compared to the two-week period prior to the attacks.From Aug. 28 to Sept. 10, the department received 112 new applications for gun permits. From Sept. 12 to Sept. 25, the number jumped to 170. Permits are required of all citizens who wish to carry a gun in the city of Philadelphia.Applications for gun-permit renewals also surged 52.4 permit when comparing the same two-week periods, from 105 pre-attack to 160 following the terrorism.While acknowledging the likely influence of terrorist activity on the numbers, officials cautioned that they could not be exclusively linked to the terror attacks and could be subject to a number of variables. *- Jim Nolan http://dailynews.philly.com/content/daily_news/2001/09/27/local/GUNN27C.htm

ironsites

Those are probably the same folks that were fighting for more gun control only a week ago. We told'em so!

Mom Mom

I personally find the increase in the number of people buying guns frightening. Not because they are finally seeing the light and exercising thir rights, but because the majority of them will also be exercising their right to stupidity. On my last trip to the local gun store, I saw more than one person purchasing a handgun with the line "I've never owned a gun before, but I really think I need one now for home protection." All these guns in the hands of well meaning yet uneducated people spells tragedy, as I'm fairly certain the vast majority of them won't bother to learn the skills neccessary to use the thing properly and safely. As soon as we have a few more "accidents" involving guns, the gun snatchers will take up the cry again. Perhaps a fair solution would be some sort of competency test for firearm ownership, like they have for drivers licenses. Some people do realy need to be protectd from themsleves.

Iconoclast

Mom Mom, I understand your concern & share it, but I do have significant reservations about who would determine the qualifications, administer the test and keep the records. As we've seen in the past, many parties have an agenda entirely antithetical to the underlying purpose of such testing. As to those who need to be protected from themselves, we could start with those - both living and dead - who voted Democrat the last three Presidential elections.

Boomerang

In my opinion, the majority of liberals do not have the mental capacity to own guns or to use them properly. They will be the ones to give gun owners a bad name.Boomer

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Protect our Constitutional Rights. [This message has been edited by Boomerang (edited 09-29-2001).]

pending

I hear ya Boomerang, If you want to drive, you have to learn first, if not, a great many people are going to get run over. The same goes for guns