In July, Idaho passed Senate Bill 1389, a “permitless/constitutional” carry bill, to become the ninth state to adopt Constitutional Carry laws to allow residents over the age of 21 to carry concealed weapons in most places without a county-issued permit.
But six months after the law went into effect, authorities say residents are still applying for concealed-carry permits, with a significant number of applicants seeking enhanced permits which allows them to carry concealed weapons in other states.
In fact, earlier this month, Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Patrick Orr said since the law went into effect in July, 70 percent of the 859 concealed weapons permits issued by the county were enhanced permits. A trend that is being seen throughout the state.
At the beginning of December, 131,665 Idaho adults possessed a concealed weapons permit, 8 percent of the state’s population, according to the Idaho State Police. Of those, 27,243, or 21 percent, are enhanced permits.
The total figure is up 54 percent from the beginning of 2013, when 85,535 adults had such a permit, according to statistics from the ISP and the Pennsylvania-based Crime Prevention Research Center.
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