Concealed Pistol Licenses Doubled

Via The Shekel comes this story from The Detroit Free Press: Gun permits doubled in Michigan in 2009

Applications and approvals for concealed weapons permits in Michigan doubled last year, as more than 73,000 people sought to obtain or renew licenses in the 12 months ending June 30, and 66,446 were approved, according to a recently released state police report.

That compared to 33,411 applications and 26,578 approvals in the preceding 12-month period.

A department spokeswoman had no immediate explanation for the increase this morning. There have been widespread reports of increased firearm and ammunition sales in 2009, stemming from fears in some quarters that President Obama and a Democratic Party control of Congress might lead to new gun controls.

In addition to "fears of new gun controls" I would also add to the potential list of reasons why people are getting more gun permits "increased fears of a tyrannical government that will increasingly violate God-given rights to life, liberty, and property" and "increased arming for the revolution to restore the American Republic."

Sometimes in my class we talk about John Locke, and whenever I do, my students minds are blown by the power and strength and clarity of his thoughts- that the purpose of government is to protect life, liberty, and property, and that whenever government no longer serves this purpose, people have the right to replace that government with one that does. For most of our history, we've done that at the ballot box. But if the mechanisms of democracy are corrupted- if Democratic Secretaries of State break the laws like we saw in Minnesota and around the nation, if the census is inaccurate and biased, and if voter intimidation like that in Pennsylvania is allowed- then the ballot box option will disappear, and good patriotic Americans will have to find another option to replace their government.