Applications for concealed handgun carry licenses have dropped sharply in the second quarter of 2013, according to data from the Arkansas State Police.
After a sharp spike in applications that peaked in February at more than 7,600 statewide, the number of applications received by state police administrators has dropped each month, said Bill Sadler, a department spokesman.
“We are seeing a decline in applications that began to spin up in January,” Sadler said. Sadler puts the number of applications for a concealed-carry license in January at more than 6,100 - more than double the 2,272 applications Sadler said the department received in December 2012.
There were more than 21,000 applications for Arkansas concealed-carry licenses in 2012, and there are currently about 149,500 active licenses, according to the department.
In March, the number dropped to about 5,700, and then fell to about 1,600 in April and about 1,100 in May, the most recent month for which the department has data available.
To receive a concealed-carry license in Arkansas, residents must submit fingerprints for a background check with the FBI and proof of having completed an approved firearms safety course, as well as satisfying more than a dozen other requirements. The state recommends a minimum of six hours of classroom instruction, and applicants must “live fire” the handgun under instructor supervision.
The cost of a new license for residents aged 64 and younger is $147.25, which does not cover the cost of a firearms safety course. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age, and the license must be renewed every five years to remain valid.
Concealed-carry instructors throughout Arkansas interviewed for this story reported sharp drops in class enrollment since the beginning of 2013.
Orville Acker, a firearms instructor in Prairie Grove, said attendance at his weekend concealed-carry classes was nearly overwhelming during the first quarter of 2013.
“First three months was terrible,” Acker said. “I just had a lot of people. Probably did as much in the first three months of this year as I did in all of 2012.”
Acker said attendance in his classes has ranged from two to 22, although the typical range is from 12 to 18. In the first three months of the year, Acker said, he was holding two classes each weekend and even a few during the week for a handful of students who were only available during the work week.
Acker said he has only had about a dozen students throughout July, however.
Josh Bowen, co-owner of Safe Secure Services, which provides firearms training in the Elkins and Fayetteville areas, said much of the spike in concealed-carry applications was because of gun owners worrying that impending legislation might impede their right to carry a firearm.
“After Aurora and Newtown, things really stepped up,” Bowen said, referring to the mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012 and Newtown, Conn., in December 2012. The ensuing national debate over gun control, which included proposed legislation that would have expanded background checks for individuals purchasing firearms, stoked fears among some that gun ownership across the country might be severely limited or outlawed altogether.
As demand for firearms training increased, more individuals became certified to teach the approved courses, diluting the pool of interested students across a growing body of instructors, Bowen said.
Bowen, who said his typical class load of 20-30 students every four to six weeks rose to a peak of 30-40 students every three to four weeks in the early months of 2013, said common misconceptions about a recent piece of Arkansas legislation also has likely contributed to a decline in enrollment.
Ed Monk, co-owner of Last Resort Firearms Training near White Hall, also said the Newtown shooting and the gun-control debate fueled people to get a concealed-carry license.
Before that, the facility ran one class a month for a maximum of 18 students, and the classes weren’t always full, he said. After, he held four to five classes a month with classes maxing out.
Those events helped to push those considering getting a license to do it, he said.
“In that five-month period, they all went and got theirs,” he said. “And so it’s dried up. It’s come down, but it’s still far above where it was.”
Monk held two classes in June and has two scheduled for July.
Act 764 of 2013 was introduced to the state House of Representatives as House Bill 1700 in early March by state Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith. The act amends Arkansas Code Annotated sections 5-73-119 and 5-73-120, which in part govern the possession of handguns and other weapons in Arkansas, and contain what is commonly known as the state’s “journey law.” A journey law allows an individual to carry a handgun in his vehicle if driving outside his county of residence, or is otherwise traveling outside his normal routine.
The wording of the amendment was thought by many to allow individuals to “open carry” handguns without need of concealment, and that it further placed the onus on law enforcement to prove that an individual was carrying a firearm with criminal intent in the event of arrest.
Ronald Garratt, a Rogers-based firearms instructor and a former Arkansas state trooper, said many of his fellow shooters believed that meant an end to the need for a concealed-carry license in Arkansas. Garratt said the language of the amendment was almost as vague as the original code.
“I can tell you it was very vague at that time, what constituted a ‘journey,’” said Garratt, referring to his years as a state trooper from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. “Now it clarifies that a person can carry a weapon if traveling county-to-county within the state. I certainly don’t feel that gives us the right to open carry.”
In July, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office issued an opinion on the implications of Act 746. Mc-Daniel explicitly stated that it was the legal opinion of his office that the act did not grant individuals the right to carry a handgun on their person, in plain view, beyond the confines of a vehicle.
Information for this article was contributed by Aziza Musa of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 07/22/2013