(GunReports.com) — In less than six weeks, 56,000 people applied for a permit under Wisconsin’s new concealed carry law and thousands more bought handguns, swamping the state agency handling the required background checks, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
The newspaper reports that the applicants so far amount to about 1% of the state’s population, and very few of them have been rejected for a permit. The number of state background checks for handgun purchases is also up more than 50% for the year – another sign of the large numbers of people taking advantage of the new concealed carry law.
On Nov. 1, Wisconsin became the 49th state in the country to allow the concealed carry of weapons, prompting a rush from people who have long wanted a permit. The law allows people 21 and older to qualify for weapons permits if they are trained and can pass a background check that shows they’re not felons or otherwise barred from carrying guns.
As of Dec. 11, a total of 24,821 people had had permits approved by the state and only a small number – 296 people – have been denied, according to new DOJ statistics.
Read more at at www.JSOnline.com.
