http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw1125gun.html

Permits for concealed weapons rise after attacks
By MATTHEW DOLAN, The Virginian-Pilot
? November 25, 2001

The number of licenses in South Hampton Roads issued for carrying hidden
guns surged after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted a nationwide
concern over personal safety.

Court records show that the number of concealed-weapons permits issued last
month in Virginia Beach, for example, nearly tripled from the same month in
2000.

The resort city granted 64 permits to its residents in October 2000. Last
month, the Beach handed out 181.

“People who never thought about carrying a gun are showing up since the
terrorist attacks — grandmothers, grandfathers, a lot of wives,” said
Norman Carolino, the president of Concealed Weapons Permit Training
Institute, based in Norfolk and Raleigh.

“I think our business has gone up almost 100 percent,” Carolino said.

The number of Norfolk residents who acquired permits grew 63 percent — from
41 in October 2000 to 67 in October 2001. Chesapeake and Portsmouth also
reported substantial increases.

The Suffolk court clerk’s office could not provide month-to-month
comparisons, but officials said applications for permits jumped in October
over previous months.

Gun advocates and suppliers said the spike has come from those once
considered unlikely to hide a gun in a purse or under a car seat.

New permit holders said they just want to feel safer in a world of uncertain
threats, according to Carolino.

“We have seen what terrorists can do on a large scale, but certainly they
can interrupt a town civic meeting with gunfire,” said John Velleco, a
spokesman for Gun Owners of America, a 300,000-member national lobbying
group based in Northern Virginia. “A concealed weapon in the hands of a
decent citizen can very much affect the outcome of that situation and save
lives.”

But gun-control advocates fear that the public has mistakenly formed a link
between packing hidden heat and preventing terrorism.

“Who do they think they’re protecting themselves from? Are they going to
shoot the first Middle Eastern fellow you see and ask questions later?”
asked Pamela L. Pouchot, chairwoman of The Virginia Committee For Gun-Free
Schools. “And no gun in the world,” Pouchot said, “is going to protect
you from anthrax.”

The state’s concealed-weapons license usually takes 30 to 45 days to obtain,
making last month’s figures the first that could reveal reactions to the war
against terrorism.

In Virginia, applicants must be at least 21 years old. They also must pass a
criminal background check and a training course in gun safety.

Filing for a permit in the Chesapeake court clerk’s office Monday, Air Force
Airman Jeremiah J. Mollman said he had always planned to get the license as
soon as he could after he turned 21 this year.

“It’s something my dad always had, but I’ve heard from other people since
the 11th that this is something they want,” said Mollman, an aviation
specialist who works on F-15 fighter jets at Langley Air Force Base in
Hampton.

Nationwide, an FBI division that conducts instant checks for firearms sales
and concealed-weapons permits ran 937,042 checks in the month after the
attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. That figure was up 21
percent from the same period last year.

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