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(updated 08/09/2001).
David Coates / The Detroit
News
Michigan State
Police Lt. Eric Wimbley, left, and Jim Byrd process applications
in Wayne County for concealed weapons.
Gun permits
surge, but not violence Oakland County
issues more than any county; licenses up 39 percent statewide By John
Bebow and George Hunter / The Detroit
News
Daniel Mears / The Detroit News
Steven
Kreft is prepared for chance encounters with crime. He
carries a Kel-Tek .32 semiautomatic.
Gun permit
law * County gun boards can issue
three-year permits to carry a concealed weapon as long as
applicants are at least 21. * If they deny a
permit, gun board members have to explain why.
* Applicants cannot be convicted of a felony
or selected misdemeanors or have a history of mental illness.
* Applicants must successfully complete a
firearms safety course before receiving a permit.
* Concealed firearms are banned from
schools, day care centers, college campuses, hospitals, casinos,
bars, churches, sports arenas and stadiums.
Concealed
weapons Nearly 50,000 people have
sought concealed gun permits in Michigan since July when a new law
made it easier to obtain a permit. * 90
percent of applicants were men. * 94 percent
of applicants were white; 6 percent black. *
People in their 40s requested more than any other age bracket.
* Oakland County had the most applications
-- 6,355. * Barry County, north of Battle
Creek, had the most applications per capita -- 1 for every 18
residents. * Houghton County, in the Upper
Peninsula, had the fewest per capita -- 1 for every 621 residents.
Source: Michigan State Police
WATERFORD
-- The only place Cliff Dabrowski has pulled his new 9mm Glock is
the shooting range, but he keeps it in a shoulder holster he wears every
day to protect his wife and young son. "The police
are doing a good job, but there's just too much going on," the computer
programer said, explaining why he applied for a concealed gun permit.
"It's the opportunity to take care of myself and my family."
Dabrowski, 38, of Waterford is one of an average
of 88 people a day who've gained licenses to carry concealed weapons in
Michigan since the law was relaxed July 1. While applications have been
brisk since then, not as many have been submitted as some expected. And
law enforcement officials say the law has caused no surge in gun
violence, mishaps or vigilante justice. Concealed
weapons permits are up 39 percent statewide in the past 8 1/2 months --
from 58,280 to 81,033, according to state police records.
Another 12,666 applications are pending, and most
will likely be approved soon by local gun boards.
Oakland County residents are pursuing permits in
higher numbers than any other county in the state. Oakland has issued
4,666 permits under the new law and another 1,600 are pending. By
comparison, the county issued 3,614 permits in the 18 months leading up
to last year's law change. "I would've expected a
whole lot more than that given all the hoopla," said Michael Hodge, an
attorney for a group that last year lost a court fight opposing the new
law. As expected -- and intended -- it's easy to
get a permit under the new law. Of the nearly 50,000 applications filed
statewide since July 1, 74 percent have been approved, 25 percent are
pending and only 1 percent have been denied. As
the law nears its first anniversary, the majority of Michiganians favor
it. A new Detroit News poll shows 58 percent support the law; 38 percent
don't. Following the trend in new CCW applications, men favor the law
more than women do, according to the poll. It
looks like the law will be on the books indefinitely: Money to fight it
dried up after the state Supreme Court last summer blocked a first
attempt to force a statewide vote. And plans for a ballot initiative
this fall are off, said Carolynne Jarvis, executive director of the
Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence. "You
simply cannot do these things without money," she said.
Good for business The new law, which requires applicants to take a
gun safety course, has been great for Metro Detroit gun dealers and
shooting ranges. "Business has been very good,"
said Tom Potapa, a worker at Peters Indoor Range and Gun Shop in
Roseville. The range's 10 shooting stalls are booked every weekend,
mostly with instructors preparing gun owners for concealed weapons
permits, he said. Mike Carson, executive director
of Brass Roots, a pro-gun organization, said a lot of people in this
first wave of new CCW applicants waited for years for the opportunity.
"I attended Oakland County gun board meetings
(before the law change), and they would turn a lot of people down,"
Carson said. "I expect you'll see more women and other demographic
groups applying over the long haul. But what you're seeing now is the
people who were anxious to get their CCW were the first ones in line
after the law passed." So far, that broad
demographic range that Carson predicts hasn't materialized. Statistics
collected by the Michigan State Police show the overwhelming majority of
applicants are white males. More people in their 40s have applied than
in any other age group; few young people are applying. Only 3 percent of
applicants are 25 or younger. Neva LaRue of North
Branch is among the 10 percent of applicants who are women. She drives
to Royal Oak each Tuesday to participate in a women's gun group
sponsored by the Michigan Coalition For Responsible Gun Owners.
"For me, protecting myself is a big issue," said
LaRue, who twice was turned down for a CCW permit before the law passed,
and has a pending application now. "I've been assaulted twice by the
same man. I don't want to get hurt again. I don't want to get dragged
out of my car again -- and I don't want to see other women have to go
through that, either. So I'm really active in trying to get women
involved in defending themselves." Such
self-defense has not yet resulted in any kind of wave of new gun
violence among those with fresh CCW permits, several law enforcement
officials throughout Metro Detroit agreed. "That's
really the surprise," said Wayne County Sheriff Robert Ficano. "There
are no altercations or incidents I've seen that are at all attributable
to the law change. We thought there might be some."
Fear
on streets Still, more guns on the
street makes many people uneasy. "Being able to
carry a gun might be good for some people's sense of security, but I'm
not sure they'll be able to deal with conflict properly if they have a
gun," said Detroiter Jeffrey Knight. "With people getting laid off, and
all the stresses people are facing now, you've got a lot of people on
edge; I'm not sure adding guns to that mix is a good thing." Members of local gun
boards acknowledge they are concerned that the statute gives them little
leeway in denying applications. The old law
limited permits to those who could demonstrate a clear need. The new law
grants permits to anyone 21 or older with no felony convictions or
history of mental illness. The law allows
different counties to take some different approaches. In Macomb County
-- which had a fairly liberal approach to gun permits before the new law
was enacted -- almost all first-time CCW applicants go through a brief,
face-to-face interview. In Oakland County, the gun board relies almost
entirely on applicants' paperwork. The biggest
concern, some gun board members say, is assessing applicants' mental
health. The new law empowers gun boards to deny applicants with a
history of mental illness, but private mental health records are very
difficult to obtain. "We're relying on applicants
to tell the truth," said Capt. Michael McCabe, chief of operations for
the Oakland County Sheriff's Department.
"Obviously, there are probably going to be some
people who aren't going to tell the truth. It's an uncomfortable
feeling." And yet, it's also uncomfortable to be
an empty-handed chance witness to crime. Auburn
Hills computer technician Steven Kreft safely thwarted two violent
crimes near his Auburn Hills home in recent years. He once jumped from
behind a Twinkie rack to scare off an armed party store burglar. And he
turned his car around and made a ruckus to chase away a man who jumped
out of a woods and grabbed a woman jogger. So when
the state made it easier for everyday citizens to get concealed weapons
permits, Kreft quickly prepared for more chance encounters. He now
carries a Kel-Tek .32 semiautomatic. "I realized
I'm responsible for my own safety," Kreft said. "It's not that I'm going
to go around shooting anyone -- in fact, I think I would walk away from
an incident more quickly now because I have a gun. But having a gun
gives me another option."
Detroit News Staff Writer Craig Garrett
contributed to this report. You can reach John Bebow at (313) 222-2548
or jbebow@detnews.com.
David Coates / The Detroit
News
Terrie
Germain, left, and Neva LaRue participate in a gun-safety clinic
at Target Sports in Royal Oak.
News Talk
Comment on this story
Members of local gun
boards acknowledge they are concerned that the statute gives them little
leeway in denying applications. 
