BAKKEN BREAKOUT WEEKLY
BAKKEN NEWS
Thursday, April 12, 2012 ■ Page 7 Firearm permits rise in oil patch
By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press
Cindy Sanford has worked in big cities but it wasn’t until she landed a job in North Dakota’s booming oil patch hub of Williston that she began worrying about her safety. Now, the 55-year-old single woman
has a concealed carry permit and is shopping for a handgun. She’s among a burgeoning group of residents autho- rized to pack a weapon in North Da- kota for self-defense. “I did it out of awareness,” said San-
ford, who also takes other precautions, such as altering her daily commute to work at the Job Service offi ce in Wil- liston.
The number of concealed carry per-
mits in North Dakota has more than tripled in the past decade, to more than 16,000. State Bureau of Criminal Inves- tigation records show the agency issued almost 5,500 concealed carry permits in 2011, up 40 percent from the year
before. Williams and Ward counties in western North Dakota had about 1,300 concealed weapons permits issued last year, or about 50 more than in Burleigh and Cass counties, which are the state’s most populous counties and located outside the oil patch. Sanford said she never considered
carrying a handgun when she lived in Atlanta and Denver. “The difference is that in big cit-
ies, people have housing,” she said. “Here, some of them have been living in campers for two years, and there are people who are fi nancially stressed and mad at the world.” Permits are on the rise statewide, and
offi cials particularly expect the upward trend in western North Dakota to con- tinue. Among the reasons: the case of a missing Montana teacher whose body was found in Williston last month — a grisly slaying that has worried residents who already were concerned about the infl ux of newcomers to the region in search of work.
Twenty-two-year-old Michael Spell
and 48-year-old Lester Van Waters, Jr. — who authorities said had traveled to the area looking for a job in the oil fi eld — have pleaded not guilty to ag- gravated kidnapping and await trial. The men are being held on bail of $2.5 million each. North Dakota Attorney General
Wayne Stenehjem said his offi ce has been getting 150 to 300 concealed carry applications per day. Most of the appli- cations are coming from the oil patch, and many are from women, he said. “Personal protection is a concern, especially in the western part of the state where the population is increas- ing and so is crime,” Stenehjem said. “It doesn’t look like the crime rate is up, but the number of crimes has increased as the population increased.” There are about 40 instructors au-
thorized to teach the state’s mandatory concealed carry classes. Applicants can get a concealed carry permit by com- pleting an hour-long class and pass-
ing an open-book test. The classes cost about $100. Andy Anderson, owner of Scenic
Sports & Liquor in Williston, said fi re- arm sales of all types are up at his store, from handguns to deer and assault rifl es. “It’s because of the oil boom and all
the money the people have,” he said of sales. “People, even some little old la- dies, are buying a lot of handguns and piles of mace and stun guns because of the crime.” Stephanie Samford, a spokeswoman
for the National Rifl e Association, said about 7 million U.S. residents have concealed carry permits and the num- ber is growing. “People are placing a higher pre- mium on personal safety with the eco- nomic downturn,” Samford said. “Police offi cers are being laid off
and prisoners are being furloughed. Law enforcement can’t always be there when a crime occurs, so it falls upon us for personal safety.”
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