Public Safety:

Las Vegans rushing to get permits to carry concealed guns

The Guns and Ammo Garage offers retail sales of guns and gun accessories as well as a 12-lane shooting range.

Obama's Gun Control Plan

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, left, hugs eight-year-old letter writer Grant Fritz during a news conference on proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. Obama and Biden were joined by law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., last month. Launch slideshow »

2013 SHOT Show

Show attendees look over a display of weapons at the Leupold Tactical Optics booth during the annual SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show in the Sands Expo Center, Jan. 15, 2013. Launch slideshow »

More Las Vegans than normal signed up to carry a concealed firearm after the Connecticut elementary school massacre, Metro Police records show.

Between Dec. 14 — the day of the shooting — and Jan. 14, Metro Police received 1,398 applications for permits to carry a concealed firearm.

That’s up 53 percent from the 916 applications Metro receives in an average month, said Officer Jose Hernandez, a department spokesman.

Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza murdered 26 students and staff, Las Vegas Valley gun stores have seen a strong uptick in customers taking the state-required class to obtain a concealed weapons permit.

The Gun Store on East Tropicana Avenue normally offers classes three days a week for up to 50 people at a time, but owner Bob Irwin recently added a fourth day because he’s booked through February.

Range 702 on Dean Martin Drive now teaches its class once a week instead of the usual once a month, and its one-on-one instructional firearms lessons have tripled in volume, Director of Business Development Lianne Heck said.

Las Vegas gun sales also have skyrocketed, especially for military-style rifles like the AK-47 and the AR-15.

Customers fear increased government oversight and want guns that could be outlawed, local retailers have said.

Last month, sales volume at the Gun Store was almost five times that of a typical December. Sales were up six-fold at Discount Firearms and Ammo on South Highland Drive. And at the newly opened Range 702, sales revenue this past month doubled that of a typical month for an established store.

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