OSBI: Record set for concealed handgun license applications
BY Staff Reports
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Nearly 5,000 people applied for a handgun license last month, a record since handgun licensing began in 1996, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
There were 4,970 initial applications for a handgun license in January. It beat the old record by 1,714 applications, set when law allowing for concealed handgun licensing went into effect in January 1996.
In January of last year, there were 1,861 initial applications.
The OSBI has seen a steady increase in the number of people seeking a handgun license, but that number has sharply increased in the last year.
In November, a law allowing the open carrying of firearms went into effect, meaning anyone who wished to carry a handgun either concealed or openly had to be licensed to do so.
There were 1,137 renewal applications processed by the OSBI last month, which was down from January 2012 by 14 applications.
The bureau has increased its staff in the Self Defense Unit and is using employees from other units to handle the increased workload.
In a release announcing he numbers, OSBI officials declined to speculate on any reason for the sharp increase.
“Due to the length of the entire process of getting one’s gun license, it is difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint a relationship between a public event and someone applying for a license, (for example the) Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, presidential election,” the release states.
