BALDWIN COUNTY, ALABAMA — A brutal homicide, a lengthy pursuit by police, and a population living with the reality that true violence is never far from home… These are some of the factors that Baldwin County residents have brought up in a recent rush for concealed carry permits.
via WKRG News
“January 30th through February 3rd,” Sheriff Hoss Mack said. “We had issued 333 concealed carry permits, that five day period which would have been the business week. Then February 6th, which would have been the Monday after the Broz homicide, through February 10th, we issued 595. So, you almost saw a doubling of that in the following week.”
A lot of the permits issued are from first time permit applicants, many of them women. The event in question involved a couple believed to be responsible for a string of homicides. Those homicides were completely directed towards women. The couple believed to be responsible for the attacks fled to a motel in Georgia. One of them surrendered to police at a motel while the other shot himself to avoid capture.
The murderers lured a woman to her home and killed her in her front lawn. She was taken advantage of and murdered. This has obviously raised the hackles of many people. Women, especially, are forced to reconsider how they treat people in light of these attacks.
Alabama is an open carry state. As such, you don’t need a permit to carry a gun on your hip. However, the second it goes into a jacket, pocket, or car — you need a permit.
“The average person that comes and gets a permit has thought it through,” says Sheriff Hoss Mack. “They’ve made a conscious decision that this is what I want to do I’m now going to get a permit so that I can do it.”
A permit isn’t hard to get and it’s fantastic that so many folks from Baldwin county are taking their own personal defense much more seriously. The unfortunate part is that folks had to die in order to bring that to the forefront.
For those that follow Concealed Nation, you already know the importance of everyday concealed carry. We make it evident in the stories we cite and the evidence. Everyday concealed carry just makes sense. That gun has to be on you for you to use it.
Bad guys use a bunch of different tricks to get people to lower their guard so they can take advantage of them. It’s a simple predatory technique. Complex as it may be to grasp, the execution is rather simple. It’s almost impossible to spot a predator versus an actual person in distress because predators purposefully mimic those traits.
Verify everything. It’s a piece of situational awareness. There’s no problem taking someone at face value. Fact check’em. If they’re in true dire straits, you can take a few minutes to make sure they’re who they say they are. Don’t get stuck on your own with folks you don’t know. Get backup. Get a family member that can handle a gun or just a friend to make sure you’re not getting placed in a bad situation. Not everyone in this world is hostile, mean, or evil — but your life is worth the additional precautions.
And, as always, carry everywhere, everyday. If you don’t have the permit, get one. If you’re on the fence about a pistol class, pony up the bucks and take it. You’ll never regret time spent at the range or time getting familiar with the pistol you’ll depend upon to save your life.