Applications for Gun Permits in Newtown, Conn. Soar
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Stockbyte/Thinkstock(NEWTOWN, Conn.) — It’s been 11 months since 20 children and six adults were shot dead by a lone gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
During the half-year following the massacre, The Hartford Courant reports, there were 183 permit applications made by Newtown residents, representing a 110 percent increase from January through May 2012.
In fact, the number of applications made in the first five months of this year surpassed the totals of 2011 and 2012 combined.
According to Robert Berkins, records manager for the Newtown police, while the tragedy spurred the flood of applications, residents of the town were already concerned about tighter gun restrictions before the school shooting.
Meanwhile, Connecticut’s legislature passed what was considered the toughest gun bill in the nation last April. The law expanded the state’s ban on assault weapons, made background checks on all gun purchases mandatory, established a registry of firearm offenders and prohibited the sale of magazines with 10 or more bullets.
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