Lake, Marion counties in Top 15

More than 2.61 million folks had Florida concealed weapons licenses as of Nov. 30, based on the News Service of Florida. Of the state’s 67 counties, Lake and Marion are in the Top 15 for the variety of license holders.

The state has issued 63,639 permits in Lake County and 55,855 in Marion. Miami-Dade is tops with 202,894, based on the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

To put it in perspective, Lake County’s inhabitants in 2021 was 395,804, based on Florida-Demographics.com. Marion County’s was 385,915.

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The Lake County image

Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker believes he is aware of why his county has so many allow holders.

“We’re still a rural-ish county,” he stated.

Before devastating freezes in the early Eighties, Lake was the king of citrus groves, field crops, packing homes and juice factories. South Lake is now a bed room neighborhood for Orlando, whereas the remainder of the county is rising quickly. Both Lake and Marion have chunks of the thriving Villages retirement neighborhood, however there are nonetheless some huge undeveloped tracts.

Politically talking, Baker stated, Republicans usually tend to be gun homeowners. Lake and Marion each are strong GOP on the voting sales space. All of the constitutional officers in Lake and Marion are Republicans.

Marion has 273,935 registered voters, with 127,853 (46.7%) registered Republican. The relaxation are Democrats (28.8%) or different (24.5%.) In Lake, 44% of registered voters are Republican, in contrast with Democrats (27.5%) and different (28.5%.) In final month’s election for governor, Gov. Ron DeSantis took 69.23% of the Marion vote and 66.54% of the Lake vote.

Baker has a novel perspective in one other manner: He is the proprietor of A.W. Peterson’s Gun Shop, a longtime fixture in Mount Dora.

His store is one among many that gives an authorized National Rifle Association teacher for these searching for a hid weapons allow. A certificates of security and competency is obligatory, except for veterans, energetic navy personnel, and police and safety officers.

The Marion County image

George Albright, Marion County’s tax collector, stated it’s no secret why so many individuals need to get a hid weapons allow.

“People are scared anytime there is an elected Democratic president that their guns are going to be taken away,” he stated.

The defund the police motion additionally frightened folks. “They’re afraid that law enforcement won’t be able to help them. Thirdly, there is a need and a right to protect themselves and their family under the Second Amendment,” Albright stated.

Pistol taking pictures can also be a preferred sport, so it is just pure that individuals may desire a allow in the event that they like goal taking pictures.

It is a boon to collectors, too: Permit holders don’t need to undergo the three-day ready interval to purchase a weapon.

Albright, who’s a Republican, stated politics has nothing to do together with his workplace serving to candidates. “I swore to uphold the law.”

His workplace is ready up as a one-stop operation. Fingerprints, the appliance and required picture are mixed electronically and despatched to Tallahassee.

Word has unfold in regards to the velocity of the operation, Albright stated, so folks come from as far-off as Miami-Dade County.

Helping candidates since 2015, Marion County has processed 5,419 functions for brand new and renewed permits from Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30 of this 12 months alone, he stated.

A way of safety

Being capable of carry a weapon provides folks a way of safety, Baker stated. Headlines about mass shootings or one-on-on deaths, together with at shops, ship shivers down folks’s spines.

In 2018, David Johnson killed Carli Cronin in a home dispute on the Walmart on Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala, then turned the gun on himself. Drug sellers shot one among their suppliers on the Walmart in Fruitland in 2016. Twenty-three folks had been killed at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in 2019.

It’s not simply Walmart, after all. There have been mass casualties at church buildings and synagogues and plenty of different locations, as properly.

Authorities for the previous few years have been boasting that violent crime is down in America, however it has risen not too long ago. The peak was in 1992 with 1,932,274 incidents, based on usafacts.org, quoting FBI statistics. In 2014, it was at 1,153,022, however rose to 1,313,105 in 2020. A pointy improve in aggravated assault was the primary purpose.

Most folks don’t carry weapons on a regular basis. In truth, many simply hold weapons in their automobile or purse, Baker stated. In truth, he has seen a pointy rise in the variety of girls searching for permits.

“It used to be 7 or 8 percent, but it is well over 24 percent now,” he stated.

One purpose for the excessive variety of permits issued is that Florida was one of many first massive states to go from “may issue” to “shall issue,” based on a USA Today story in June.

Another purpose is that 36 states now acknowledge different states’ permits, Baker stated.

“You still have to abide by their laws,” he stated. His gun retailer sells a pamphlet detailing the completely different legal guidelines. “You can also find them online,” he stated.

Florida could be going one step additional: As Gannett Florida recently reported, DeSantis supports “constitutional carry” legislation, which if passed would allow Floridians to carry a gun without a permit.

The current carry law is not without controversy. The Violence Policy Center says 2,240 folks have been killed by hid carry shooters.

Gun rights advocates, together with some regulation corporations, argue that it’s a deterrent to violent crime. Police can’t be in every single place, so you may instantly shield your self and your loved ones. Not each confrontation ends with the allow holder pulling the set off.

“This office strongly supports the Second Amendment and I encourage our citizens to lawfully carry concealed. We also offer free fingerprinting services for our Lake County citizens who apply for their Concealed Weapons Permit,” stated Lake Sheriff Peyton Grinnell.

“Statistically speaking, permit holders are extraordinarily responsible,” Baker stated. “Probably as a group they are the most honest group.”

Not solely are they abiding by the regulation searching for a allow, however they know they threat shedding their license and breaking the regulation in the event that they misuse a weapon, in some instances, committing a felony, he stated.

How do you get a hid weapon license?

You can apply for a hid weapon license at a regional workplace of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. You may also apply on-line. The Lake County Tax Collector’s Office helps candidates at its Leesburg or Clermont workplace. The Marion County Tax Collector’s Office, likewise, takes fingerprints and helps submit the appliance to the state at its fundamental workplace on 25^th Avenue in Ocala.

Applicants should be 21 or older and never be convicted of a felony. Florida Statute 790 additionally spells out citizenship or alien residency necessities, restrictions or prohibitions for managed medication, home violence crimes, alcohol abuse, and any bodily disabilities that may prohibit protected use of firearms or individuals who have been dedicated to psychological establishments. 

You may also apply on-line. Information can also be on-line about making an appointment.

Applicants should carry a driver’s license or state identification card and a duplicate of a coaching doc to indicate you might be proficient with a firearm.

The price is $97, which incorporates fingerprint processing. The license is nice for seven years. The renewal price is $42. Tax collectors can gather an extra $12.

The license course of takes about an hour. The Florida division has 90 days to answer the appliance. Applications by energetic navy personnel or veterans can be expedited. Active navy personnel should carry their navy identification, and honorably discharged vets ought to submit a duplicate of their DD 214 lengthy kind.

Persons searching for a allow should present a certificates of completion involving licensed instructors from the National Rifle Association, Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Included are regulation enforcement firearms security or coaching programs for safety guards, investigators, or particular deputies.

The regulation lists a number of locations the place firearms are prohibited regardless if in case you have a allow: police stations, jails, courthouses, polling locations, authorities board assembly, the state Capitol, faculties or faculty athletic occasions, any profession heart, bars, airports and any federal institution the place weapons are banned.

Violators can face second-degree misdemeanor fees, punishable by as much as 60 days in jail and a $500 high-quality.

Places the place allow holders can carry underneath the regulation for “safety, security, personal protection, or any other lawful purpose” are church buildings, synagogues or “other religious institution.”

Other prime counties in the variety of permits issued are:

Broward County, 182,491 permits

Palm Beach County, 144,152

Hillsborough County, 140,992

Orange County, 118,243

Duval County, 112,882

Pinellas County, 94.278

Lee County, 91,417

Brevard County, 86,600

Polk County, 84,996

Volusia County, 75,088

Pasco County, 70,462

Sarasota County, 52,537