January marked a record-breaking month for carry in the state of Minnesota. The run on permits last month is Minnesota’s second-largest surge since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012. According to a monthly data report from the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), there have been at least 221,712 active permit holders since the beginning of 2016—an increase of 6,189 from December 2015. Because permits are only valid for five years, the reported number is a mix of new and renewal permits.
Minnesota’s biggest jump in permits occurred in March of 2013, just a few months after the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., with an increase of 7,213 active permit holders. Spikes in applications for permits often occur after well-publicized tragedies, such as the Paris terror attacks in November or the San Bernardino shootings in December, and the calls for national gun-control measures that usually follow.
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