DALLAS, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Requests for concealed-gun license applications have nearly tripled in Texas since the Sept. 11 attacks, apparently because of fear and uncertainty about personal safety, according to gun advocates.
The number of requests has climbed from about 1,000 a week to about 2,800, according to Texas Department of Public Safety figures obtained Thursday by The Dallas Morning News. In October, more than 10,000 requests arrived at the DPS office in Austin.
Thinking gun owners don't believe a firearm will protect them from a terrorist, but they fear for their own personal safety if law enforcement is stretched too thin, said Ken Goldberg, owner of the DFW Gun Range and Firing Center.
"They're buying a gun because they're saying, 'I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know that there's not going to be civil unrest,'" he told the News.
As of Oct. 1, there were 218,105 Texans with concealed gun permits. To obtain a permit, applicants must go through background checks, attend a training course, and pass a test on gun safety. The process can cost as much as $300.
Nina Butts, a lobbyist for Texans Against Gun Violence, was skeptical that carrying a firearm would help against terrorism but it might led to closing a loophole in the law that allows the purchase of weapons in some cases without proper background checks.
"We remain strongly opposed to this law, and we think it has led to loss of life in Texas," she said.
