Walton County’s Gun Permit Applications Up Almost 1,200 Percent from January 2012

Gun permit applications were up nationwide following the Sandy Hook tragedy amid fears that the government will introduce strict gun control perceived as a limitation on Second Amendment rights. Walton County was no exception. However, following the the rush of applications for permits in Walton County rose dramatically.

Walton County Probate Judge Bruce Wright told seniors at the TRIAD meeting in Loganville on Friday that the increase in permits over a year went from 54 in January 2012 to 642 in January this year.

“I get to see these because firearms permits must go through my courts,” Wright said. “In January 2011 we had 51 applications, January 2012 we had 54, but this year things were a little different.”

Although applications were already up, Wright said he believes this sharp increase had a lot to do with the intruder incident in Loganville when Melinda Herman shot Paul Slater after he broke into her home on Jan. 4, 2013. The incident also prompted a call by neighbors in the Sharon Church Road community to being working on a Neighborhood Watch program. Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman and Capt. Darren Vinson addressed the community at Sharon Church Elementary School on Feb. 21 about getting up a neighborhood watch. Loganville resident Sandy Wittenmeyer, who was in attendance, said it was largely the shooting incident that prompted the idea to form a neighborhood watch.

In addressing attendees at the TRIAD meeting on the increase in gun permits, Wright explained that a permit is only required if you intend to carry a concealed weapon.

“If it is in your home, (place of business) or in your car in plain view or kept in the glove compartment, you don’t need a permit,” Wright said, adding that if the gun was behind the seat or anywhere else out of sight a permit would be required under Georgia law. “And I wouldn’t have a gun without it being loaded and I wouldn’t recommend pulling it without being prepared to use it.”

Wright said the cost of a permit went up on March 1, 2013, from $72.25 to $79.25.

“That was the state,” he said. “The county does get a supplement, but it was the state that went up on the fees.”

In a recent article in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the increase in permits over the previous year for the month of December was given for several counties. These included Fulton, which went up by 39 percent from 526 to 732, Cobb that went from 642 to 1,212, an increase of 89 percent, and Gwinnett that went from 522 to 1,082 – an increase of 107 percent. Walton County's increase in January 2013 was significantly higher.

The AJC also gave a brief overview of the Georgia gun laws including:

• In most case, the only people who may not own a gun are felons, felony probationers and people under 18 (except minors may possess a hunting weapon).
• Certain weapons, however, must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. These weapons include sawed-off shotguns, sawed-off rifles, fully automatic machine guns and silencers.
• Licenses to carry, after fingerprinting and a background check, are issued to persons over 21 with the exception of fugitives, persons with certain pending criminal charges, convicted felons and certain people who have been hospitalized in a mental hospital or drug treatment center and person convicted of certain drug offenses.

Gun permits for Walton County are available at the Probate Court at 303 Hammond drive, Monroe. The phone number for the Probate Court is 770-267-1345.

WCSO will assist the community in setting up the program and will provide neighborhood watch signs. Any communities interested in the Neighborhood Watch Program can contact Vinson at 770-266-1515 or 770-266-1514. The following is a list of the responsibilities of a neighborhood block captain as well as communities that have already established a neighborhood watch program in Walton County. This information is from the WCSO website.

• Neighborhood Watch Program Block Captain's Responsibilities

• Neighborhood Watch Members