Oklahoma: Concealed Carry Permit Applications Surge Following Obama’s Gun Control

Numbers recently released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation suggest that the talk of gun control and President Obama’s actual issuance of executive gun controls contributed to a surge in concealed carry permit applications in that state from November to February.

Oklahoma concealed carry permits are issued under the auspices of the state’s Self-Defense Act.

According to Tulsa World, the numbers for applications are compiled on a week-by-week basis and show concealed carry applications “nearly tripled” November to February. They were especially high the week of Obama’s gun control announcement. The timing of the numbers also suggests that gun control rhetoric following the high profile shooting at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood (November 27) and the San Bernardino terror attack (December 2) also played a role in the surge.

It is interesting to note that as the numbers began to rise, various sheriffs across the state reduced prices in the application process where they could, hoping even more Oklahoma residents would get a license to carry a gun for self-defense. For example, Tulsa World previously reported that Creek County Sheriff John Davis “reduced” the price for getting fingerprints for a concealed carry permit for those in his county.

Davis additionally urged Creek County residents to arm up:

As a result of the ever-increasing violence being committed upon the American citizen and the current state of our country, I encourage each citizen of Creek County who is legally able to fully utilize their Second Amendment right “to keep and bear arms,” as legally prescribed by the Self-Defense Act.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.