GENESEE COUNTY -- “They are regular people that you see up and down the street every day, around the corner, our neighbors,” says Grand Blanc Police Chief Steve Solomon.
As of November first, there are over 46-thousand residents in the NBC25 viewing area who now have a license to carry a concealed weapon.
The number of men and women wanting to carry a concealed weapon is skyrocketing. There are at least two reasons for that. The first, says Doug Sepanak, owner of Flint’s Sentinal Protection and Investigations, is the process itself. “20 years ago, he says, you had to have a friend in the State Police, Sheriff’s Department, Prosecutor’s Office, usually, to get a permit. Now, you know, unless they have something criminal against you, they have to give it to you.”
And the second, more obvious reason for the spike? Personal protection.
“When you take away the police force and the security force and the confidence that the citizens have that they’ll be protected, I think their only option is to go out there and protect themselves” says Genesee County Undersheriff Chris Swanson who also says “It’s not the amount of guns that are out there, it’s the amount of guns that are in the wrong hands that’s the problem.”
