Daily News | Gun sales and permits surged during the pandemic in Philly and Pennsylvania
, amid the pandemic and subsequent social turmoil, including unrest following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, escalating political tensions ahead of the 2020 presidential election, and rising crime in big cities.
“Fundamentally people do not feel safe because of gun violence and crime, so they want to carry a gun for safety,” he said. “But record-high sales have come with record-high violence. And that’s every form of violence, from suicides to homicides.”While a relatively small portion of the population historically accounted for the vast majority of gun purchases, it’s also clear that more and more people are seeking to legally carry guns in Pennsylvania than at any point on record.
Nearly all of that increase came from Philadelphia, which, unlike the rest of the state, requires a license for both concealed and open carries , and saw permitting increase exponentially last year. “A lot of people had to wait for [licenses] during the pandemic because the gun permit unit was shut down,” he said. “So, now you see that backlog being cleared. I think it’s a response to the civil unrest during the pandemic. People who live in a higher crime area, they’re the ones who need access to that the most.”Meanwhile, an average of about 24,000 handguns were sold or transferred just in Philadelphia for each of the last two years, state police data show.
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