Gun applications
up 5.2 percent

6,443 permits were issued statewide
last year, a report says

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By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

Some of the people who had firearm permit applications rejected last year include a person who reported "hearing voices," another who was acquitted of a crime by reason of insanity, and a fugitive from Arizona, according to the latest statewide firearm registration statistics.

"It would seem thick-headed to think that police were going to issue you a firearms permit just because you're in another state," said chief researcher Paul Perrone, who released the state attorney general's report yesterday.

"You're wanted, and you're still willing to walk into a police station and give your real name and Social Security number and date of birth.

"You have to be some kind of brain-dead to do that."

Statewide, 6,443 permits were issued in 2001, covering 14,305 firearms registered, a 5.2 percent increase over applications processed in 2000.

There were 134 permit rejections last year, a majority of them because applicants had convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Though the DUI conviction itself does not disqualify the applicant, the mandatory alcohol treatment classes that follow do because they are considered a type of mental health treatment.

Other reasons for rejection include domestic violence convictions, temporary restraining orders, drug offenses and certain juvenile convictions.