The National Retail Federation is projecting a four percent increase in gun sales for the last two months of the year as Christmas approaches.  Gun sales are expected to rise 20 percent this year, and while all types of firearms have increased, handguns lead the pack.

If you want to hide your new handgun, you also need a concealed weapon permit, and in Pennsylvania, you can obtain that permit from the county sheriff’s office.

Reasons can differ for owning a handgun, including protection, sporting, and hunting.  Clarion County Sheriff Rex Munsee advises applicants to list the reason as self-protection.

“I tell people to put down for self-defense, and that way you can carry it outside of your property or your home, and you’re not going to have any problems with carrying it,” said Munsee.  “Once you get inside your vehicle, even if you’re just running down to the grocery store and you have it in plain sight on the seat beside you, you must have a carry permit because technically it’s concealed because you’re inside the car.”

Munsee estimates his office issued more than 7,000 concealed weapon permits in the last five years.  The peak number of permits came in 2012 when 1,757 permits were issued, followed by 1,739 in 2013.

“We are probably well over 6,000 active permits for Clarion County,” said Munsee. That’s not all Clarion County residents because it can be people from Ohio or from another state who have a valid permit in their home state, so we can issue them a valid permit for in Pennsylvania.”

The rise in number of permits between 2012-2013 was a reaction to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings and the desire for private safety, according to Munsee.

Munsee also advises people that if they are going to get a handgun for personal protection, they better be prepared to use it if necessary.

“If you’re going to use that firearm, I hope you have enough time to think through the ramifications, but unfortunately it’s just like a police officer. A judge who has had days and months to think over all the ramifications of the opinion judges him.  An investigator has had days of months to do the investigation, and then you might even have a jury who has had all of the time they need to look at all of the justifiable use whereas a police officer or perhaps a person had to make a split second decision.”

“That individual or intruder may have pointed a weapon at me. Do I wait for him to shoot me before shoot back, or do I shoot when the guns pointed at me? That’s a decision you hope you don’t have to make, and you pray you make the right one when it happens. If you’re truly not prepared to have a firearm and to use it in a justifiable situation, you’re probably better not to carry that firearm because all you’ve done now is to arm the bad guy. So, if you know in God’s green earth there is no way that you could shoot somebody, then don’t carry a firearm.”

Christmas and Clarion County

Munsee admits that he gets a good number of requests for permits in connection with Christmas.

“Heavens yes, this is Clarion County,” said Munsee. “You don’t really have to have a firearm to get a concealed weapon permit.  The firearm permit is not specific to one pistol.  It covers all of the pistols you have, and it also covers as many that you can conceal.  If you want to have six guns concealed on you, that one permit covers all of those guns.  The number of people who carry quite a few guns would surprise you.”

No questions are asked about the firearm you will be carrying.  The information only enters into a Pennsylvania State Police Data Base.  Munsee said that there are times when his office will rescind or revote a permit because someone has been arrested for a crime that disqualifies him or her.

Fees and Permits

Concealed weapon permits are $20.00, with $19.00 staying in Clarion County and $1.00 going to Harrisburg.

“I think they’re one of the best deals going,” said Munsee.  “A five-year permit costs only $20.00.  You’re only talking about four dollars a year which is piddly compared two other things you’re getting through the government.  You have to be 21, you have to be a resident of Clarion County to get a Clarion County gun permit from me or have one from another state.

“You have to go through a background check.  If you pass all those things, I still have the decision if your character is good and you’re not known for public drunkenness and things like that. You’re going to get a permit and from my office if everything’s up on the computer and you pass the instant check, you’re going to walk out the door with a permit.  If everything’s right, you’re probably going to have a permit in 20 minutes.”

Pennsylvania does not require any special training, but some of the states do require training and instruction.  Ohio requires a type of a hunter safety course, a pistol knowledge course.

“Some states are just very strict, and they really don’t want their citizens to have carry permits unless they’re law enforcement, a judge or something like that,” said Munsee.  “They just make it so expensive and time-consuming that the average person just gives up.”

Uses for a handgun

Munsee outlines some of the other uses of a concealed weapon.

“It’s there for self-protection,” said Munsee. “It’s there if you’re going down the road and you see a deer that’s just been hit and needs dispatched.  A person could do that using safety, and you’ve actually aided the police, and you’ve put an animal out of its misery.  The times we live in now, though Clarion County is a fairly safe county, there are some times that there are people that come through I-80 that aren’t from our county, and there are some criminals that come through here. They may be trying to carjack your car, they could be breaking into your house, but you wouldn’t need a permit for that.  Used responsibly, there’s nothing wrong with an armed citizenry at all.  You’re exercising a constitutional right.  A lot of people consider the second amendment a second-class amendment, but there’s a reason it’s the second amendment.  It’s very important.”

Munsee also encourages common sense in dealing with situations.  Recent legal extensions of the “Castle Doctrine” allow certain responses in addition to your home.

“The Castle doctrine anymore says that you don’t have to retreat,” said Munsee. “Honestly, sometimes retreat is your safest and best option.  If you can see the problem coming or rising, and all it takes is for you to get in your car and leave, then I think that’s the option you should take even though the Castle Doctrine no longer requires you to do retreat.  If you’re at home, that’s a different matter altogether.  You have no duty to retreat in your home nor do you in your place of employment.”