Saturday - March 07, 2009

Will Crime Rate Drop in Florida?

I saw this meme posted at the Rott, and figured I’d look into it a bit and expand and expound on it.



Florida Swamped By Concealed Carry Permit Applications

The state has a backlog of 95,000 applications for concealed gun permits and will hire more people to handle the paperwork.

The increase may have been due to residents saying they’re worried it may become harder to get a gun during the Obama administration. Others cite their wanting to be able to protect their families, especially in tough economic times.

In Tallahassee, a legislative panel gave the Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson permission on Wednesday to spend $3.9-million more so he can hire 61 temporary workers.

The state reported an increase in applications in November after the elections of Barak Obama.

Florida received 75,679 first-time concealed-weapon permit applications in 2007 and 86,269 in 2008, in addition to tens of thousands of renewal forms.

About 541,000 Floridians have permits for concealed weapons.

By law, the state must process permit applications within 90 days. A permit is valid for seven years and costs $117, which includes a $44 fee for state and federal background checks and a set of fingerprints.

The money to hire the new employees will come from fees paid by applicants not from general tax dollars.

Personally, I just love it to death that the new article reminds the people what the law is. Something not done here in New Jersey. Then I started to take a look at the numbers. $117 per permit times 95,000 new permit applications is $11.15 million just sitting around waiting for the state. Even minus the $44, that’s still $6.75 million in free tax revenue. Certainly enough to buy a couple school books or whatever.

Granted, this story is from last month, so the backlog may have ameliorated a bit. Or it may have gotten bigger. Who knows?

Then I took a look at Florida’s gun laws. Compared to New Jersey, they really don’t have any. You have to be 18 to own a firearm. You have to pass the NICS background check when you buy a gun from a licensed dealer. That’s about it. If you want to own a rifle, shotgun, or pistol, just go to the store and buy one. These CCW permit applications are only for those citizens wishing to carry a gun in their pocket while out in public. They can have all the guns they want back in their homes with no permits necessary.

Lastly I took a look at some of the population numbers. Florida has a bit more than 18 million citizens, but it is a very young population: almost 29% are under 18. So if you add the number of people applying for a permit to those who already have a CCW, then divide that by the over 18 population, you will see that more than 4.7% of the adult population is legally able (or trying to be able) to carry a gun in their pocket.

And you know what I call that, when roughly 5% of the adults are armed at all times? I call that a start. C’mon Florida, let’s get those numbers up to 50%. Every other citizen armed. Then watch the crime rate fall to nearly zero. Except in the hoods, where the locals will continue shooting each other all the time anyway. But they’d do that, permits or not, gun laws or not. Makes no difference.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/07/2009 at 03:44 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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