In the news...

There was a huge article in the local paper today about gun permits. I copied these parts because my burbs police chief had some things to say and because the fella whose class we went to is also quoted;

Across Indiana, gun permit applications are being submitted in record numbers — a telling measure of how Hoosiers are responding to the national discussion about gun violence and gun legislation:


The Indiana State Police reported that in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and the ensuing and increasing calls for tougher restrictions on guns — a sentiment echoed in President Barack Obama’s recent State of the Union address — the agency is seeing up to 4,000 permit requests each week. That is triple the numbers seen last year by the State Police, which approve the permits.

And it appears to be happening all across Indiana.

In Carmel, a city of 80,000, Police Chief Tim Green said 263 new applications were filed in the first five weeks of 2013, compared with 67 applications in the same period last year. Green thinks the city could very well surpass 1,000 new permits this year, nearly 200 more than in any previous year.

…………… Business also is picking up for Randy DeWitt.

DeWitt is a certified trainer who runs Indy Gun Safety in Fishers. He says he has never been busier than he is now.

“Our courses are now filled a month and a half in advance,” DeWitt said. “We have added more classes, and we still can’t meet the demand.”

Gun safety courses are not required by state law, though many people seek them to get proper training, said DeWitt, who had been averaging about 60 new clients a month but is now getting dozens of calls a day from new gun owners and those seeking new permits.

“It’s absolutely insane,” he said. “For a while, we were getting up to 30 calls an hour.”

And this is my favorite quote in the whole article;

“Any weapon is an assault weapon in the hands of somebody that intends to use it that way,” he said. “Guns are getting picked on.”