‘A sense of security’: Handgun sales, permits soar in 2020

CHARLOTTE — Handgun sales and firearm permits have soared this year as COVID-19 continues to run rampant and social unrest heightens.

“I think it’s a sense of security,” said Vincent Pride, a first-time gun buyer.

Pride is hardly alone.

Channel 9 crime reporter Mark Becker discovered an increase in handgun permit applications in at least four counties, including Mecklenburg, Iredell, Gaston and Union. In North Carolina, a permit is required to buy a handgun.

Scott Farb, store manager at Beltway Gun and Pawn in Matthews, said he noticed a spike in sales at the beginning of the quarantine.

“When people were hoarding toilet paper and other things, we started to see a lot of people coming in to buy handguns,” he said.

The jump in permits and handgun sales comes as violent crime is spiraling out of control, however.

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In Charlotte, there have been more than 100 homicides in 2020.

That has Lisa Crawford, from the group Mothers of Murdered Offspring, concerned. She’s worried that many of the guns being purchased are ending up in the wrong hands.

“It’s unconscionable to me that we think that it’s OK that we run and get guns, and then we’re not good gun owners. We don’t put them up. We don’t protect them,” she said.

Pride said it’s not the gun but what you do with it that matters.

“It’s about responsibility. Once you have that responsibility and understand that you’re not doing it for a sense of violence, but for a sense of security, I’m all for it,” he said.

The number of gun purchase permit applications by county:

Mecklenburg County

2020 – 30,837
2019 – 14,595
2018 – 13,899

2020 Monthly Totals:

January – 1,773
February – 1,790
March – 4,899
April – 3,372
May – 4,094
June – 6,425
July – 5,145
August – 3,338
September – 2,999
October – 5,257

Gaston County

2020 – 5,782
2019 – 3,176
2018 – 3,073

2020 Monthly Totals:

January – 405
February – 346
March – 747
April – 506
May – 562
June – 1,054
July – 1,003
August – 681
September – 478

Iredell County

2020 – 6,654
2019 – 3,628
2018 – 3,419

2020 Monthly Totals:

January – 434
February – 269
March – 832
April – 665
May – 553
June – 1,355
July – 979
August – 841
September – 726

Union County

2020 – 7,527
2019 – 3,284
2018 – 3,011

2020 Monthly Totals:

January – 332
February – 365
March – 1,039
April – 619
May – 628
June – 1,402
July – 1,023
August – 682
September – 717
October – 663
November – 57

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