[1]Sheriff’s office employee Robin Merchant takes finger prints of concealed pistol license applicant Don Jensen.
Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Don Jensen has had guns for hunting since he was 13 years old.
At 54, the rural Chehalis man, who also owns a pistol, decided he’d like to keep his handgun closer at hand more of the time.
“I just feel with the times the way they are, I just feel more comfortable with a weapon on me,” said the Napavine School District maintenance worker.
Jensen was at the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office yesterday applying for a concealed pistol license, and he’s one of an increasing number of people doing so.
At the sheriff’s office front desk, staff ordinarily would get eight to 10 walkups each day, of persons either seeking a permit or renewing an expired one, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.
Brown said they saw a jump in requests after last month’s school shooting in Connecticut, as well as some other events in November.
The Friday after the grade school shooting, 36 or 37 individuals came in, sheriff’s office employee Robin Merchant said.
“The following Monday, there were 44,” she said.
The license isn’t required of course to own a handgun, only to carry it concealed on your person out in public.
In 2011, 1,288 people sought a CPL or a renewal of one from the sheriff’s office. Last year, that number jumped to 1,567, with well over 250 of the requests coming in the final month of the year, according to the sheriff’s office.
The process is fairly simple, for the applicant.
Merchant just needs to see picture identification, and then take the person’s fingerprints, their application and their money.
A new license is $52.50. It’s good for five years; a renewal costs $32.
Then, there’s the wait of 30 days while sheriff’s office conducts a background check.
In general, to be eligible, a person must be at least 21, a U.S. citizen, have no felony history, and may not have been court ordered into a mental institution, according to Merchant and Brown.
Sheriff Steve Mansfield said he sees the increase in requests as a reaction where more people just want to be more in control of their own security and safety.
His hope is to do what he can to encourage folks to gain a full understanding of the law.
“And that they really think things through before they use a firearm to protect themselves,” Mansfield said.
One particular concern, that was even a topic of conversation yesterday among a gathering of sheriffs in Ellensburg, he said, is the databases used check for those who have been committed to mental hospitals aren’t good enough.
“We do the best we can to make sure the background checks are complete,” he said. But there’s no guarantees, he said.
Mansfield said to expect to see law enforcement leaders asking legislators to address that during the coming session.
Possession of a concealed pistol license shortens the waiting period when one purchases a firearm too, Mansfield said.
“If you look at each of these incidents, they haven’t been perpetrated by people you would consider criminals in our society,” Mansfield said, referring to mass shootings. “It’s these mentally ill white, middle class and upper middle class Americans.”
The sheriff’s office earlier this week posted to its Facebook friends that they’ve been overwhelmed with the major increase in CPL applications and cautions the process could take longer during the lunch hour. They also may not accept applications after 3 p.m. if there are more than they can complete by closing time at 4 p.m.
Individuals can apply for a CPL at the local law enforcement agency that serves the jurisdiction in which they live. The sheriff’s office accepts applications from residents, regardless of where they reside in the county.
At the Chehalis Police Department, records technician Julie Hampson said they get one or two requests a month, but she’s seen a steady increase since the Connecticut school shooting and the ensuing talk of gun control.
“I’d say we probably doubled, maybe even tripled,” Hampson said.
Centralia Police Department employee Gayle Mulligan didn’t really notice a jump.
“Once we had four in a week, that was a lot for us,” Mulligan said.
Jensen said his visit yesterday to the sheriff’s office in Chehalis wasn’t about mass shootings.
“With the way things are, I just want to be able to defend myself,” he said.
After his background check is complete, he’ll be able to keep his handgun on him and loaded in public, he said, just not when he’s on school property.