New gun owners were behind a significant increase in the number of Minnesota gun permits issued in 2018.
In fact, of the 66,000 gun permits issued last year by 87 county sheriff’s departments throughout the state, 60 percent (40,000) came from first-time gun owners, according to recently released statistics from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
And, the total number of the five-year gun permits jumped last year to the highest amount in five years. The revenue earned by Minnesota from first-time and renewal gun permits amounted to nearly $5.4 million.
The counties with the largest populations in the state were the ones with the most new permits: Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Anoka, and Washington counties. Other notable increases were seen in St. Louis County, which spans the largest area with over 6,800 miles, and Wright County.
“It does not have the evil stigma as it once did,” said John Monson, who runs Bill’s Gun Shop with locations in Robbinsdale, Circle Pines and Hudson, Wis., in the metro area. “It’s a bit more widely acceptable.”
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