Last year because Philadelphia shutdown permitting, the city saw a 19% drop in concealed handgun permits even as gun sales jumped by 158%

Last year we put together a list of states that stopped issuing concealed handgun permits. While Pennsylvania issued more permits, police in Philly and other Pa. counties stopped issuing license-to-carry permits to gun owners amid the coronavirus outbreak. It appears that where Democrats controlled the issuing of permits, they stopped issuing new ones.

While 62,737 more gun-carry licenses were issued in the state during 2020 than during 2019, an increase of 25 percent, Philadelphia saw a 19 percent decrease. The city, which houses about 12.3 percent of the state’s population and its largest African-American community, issued just 2.3 percent of gun-carry licenses in the state. Philadelphia has the state’s largest population, but 11 other counties issued more gun-carry licenses in 2020. Philadelphia was among just 7 localities to see a decrease, compared to 60 that saw an increase, according to a recently released report from the Pennsylvania State Police.

Only Lackawanna, Potter, and Delaware counties saw a bigger percentage drop in the number of permits issued in 2020, with Lackawanna posting a 34 percent decline. Philadelphia saw the largest raw-number decline by issuing 1,795 fewer licenses in 2020 than in 2019. The Philadelphia Police Department and the sheriff’s departments in the three other counties did not respond to requests for comment.

The drop in licenses issued by Philadelphia came even as gun sales in the city jumped by more than 158 percent to 31,368. That far outpaces the 54 percent increase experienced by the rest of the state.

Stephen Gutowski, “Pennsylvania gun carry permits soared in 2020, except in Philadelphia,” Broad and Liberty, June 21, 2021.

Note that Lackawanna and Delaware Counties are also controlled by Democrats.

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