Gun Registration at All-Time High in Twp.
If January is any indication, Washington Township could see record year of gun registrations in 2013.
Gun permits in Washington Township are on pace already this year to shatter any single year in the past, following a 12-month period that already saw the highest number of registered guns in the municipality.
Through Feb. 5, 2013, when Patch obtained seven years’ worth of gun permit records in Washington Township, 53 firearms permits had been approved, with another 96 pending.
That total puts the township far ahead of the 2012 pace, when 301 gun permits were approved, nearly double the year prior. Just two were rejected in 2012–both because of denied identification cards.
“I think it has a lot to do with talk of gun control laws,” Washington Township Mayor Ken Short said. “People are probably thinking ‘let me get in before the laws change.' "
Short, who spoke out against the ability to obtain assault rifles after the Newtown, Connecticut shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children, said the country’s path may be of concern to many residents.
“Residents are concerned about the country and where it may be going,” Short said. “There seems to be an uncertainty for some people. [Residents] are finding it their personal responsibility, like they need to defend their own turf.”
Crime rates in Washington Township, according to the Uniform Crime Report database, from 2006 to 2011 (the most recent year tallied) wavered over the time frame as well.
| Year | Permit Approvals | Permit Denials | Total Crimes |
| 2013* | 53 (96 pending) | 0 | N/A |
| 2012 | 301 | 2 | N/A |
| 2011 | 169 | 0 | 110 |
| 2010 | 146 | 0 | 94 |
| 2009 | 220 | 1 | 101 |
| 2008 | 175 | 9 | 118 |
| 2007 | 86 | 5 | 132 |
| 2006 | 76 | 0 | 138 |
* Records through Feb. 5.
“I have not seen any real correlations between the number of issued guns and the different crimes we see,” said Washington Township Police Chief Michael Bailey, whose theory on the increase coincided with Short’s. “I think the number jumps every time we have a presidential election or they talk about gun reform.”
Hunters aren’t the only residents seeking permits either, Bailey said, mentioning more women and elderly people are filing applications than he’s seen in the past.
While gun crimes in Washington Township are slim to none, the rate at which permits are being approved does create a cause for concern.
“The number of permits alarm me,” Bailey said, “because you don’t know if these people have any gun safety or gun handling ability. As a police officer you are trained to handle a gun, secure a gun properly, and fire the gun accurately, and are tested twice a year. The average person might attend a safety course or might not, and if they do they might do it once in their lifetime.”
Not Domino
8:31 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Are these handgun or long gun permits, or both? If both, what is the breakdown between handguns and long guns? How many of these are concealed carry permits and how many are just permits to purchase?
Shouldn't an applicant be required to prove that they have completed a firearm safety course before being eligible to receive a permit? That seems like common sense to me.
Guns are just as deadly as automobiles, and people have to pass a test to demonstrate a minimum competency level before being allowed to drive an automobile. Shouldn't the same logic apply to owning a firearm?
Liberty
9:22 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
On the other hand, it takes about 6 wks to get a permit to purchase a gun. You are fingerprinted, thoroughly checked out and they do call your references. How many people's driver's licenses are automatically renewed without any further testing? There are thousands of people who shouldn't have a license, and I'm more afraid of them.
MountainMan
10:16 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
There are about 300 million cars, trucks and motorcycles in this country and I could buy them all legally, cash money, tomorrow AM from their willing owners without a test or license or showing an ID and park them all in my great big barn.
SuperDope
2:55 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
ND driving an automobile legally requires much more knowledge and skill than responsible firearm ownership.
Not Domino
1:47 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
But there is a wide margin for error when driving a car, as compared to operating a firearm. I bet most people have at some point driven when drowsy or tipsy or emotionally distraught or when taking a prescription that states "do not operate a motor vehicle", and most people have adjusted their radio or looked for a CD or their wallet or purse, or made a phone call or had a conversation with someone while driving, and maybe even looked away from the road for a moment or two, but yet managed to escape having an accident. But the same sort of inattentiveness or lack of focus when handling a firearm is much more likely to be disasterous. There is no margin for error whatsoever. If you accidentally tap the trigger while the safety is off and the gun is loaded, guess what, you just destroyed whatever was in the path of the projectile you accidentally launched, period. If you accidentally leave the gun on the counter in the washroom, or leave it sitting loaded in your nightstand drawer, and someone finds it who shouldn't have, any number of very undesirable outcomes could easily occur.
Brian
4:03 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Right. And if you trip with a knife in your hand, you might stab yourself.
Liberty
4:03 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
You're in a car every day, most of us, the odds are much higher for you to be in an accident. Except for LEOs, gun owners aren't walking around with or handling their guns every day. If you have your gun out, it's to use it. As far as undesirable outcomes, you can say that about almost anything. We all know someone who has been injured or died in a car accident. How many do you know who have been shot at, let alone injured or killed by a gun?
1819
4:14 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Next topic: apples and orangutans. Compare and contrast.
Claire
4:24 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Most guns are used as a reaction to aggression or anger. Cars are used to drive to where you need to go. You cannot compare the two. I find it scary that so many washington township residents feel the need to own a gun. So now I need to not only ask my teen "is a parent home" when my kids go over a friends, but "do they have a gun in the house and is it secured?"
mrwilson
4:40 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
I'm sure in Big Bear over the weekend good parents were asking "Is there a parent at home, is there a gun in the home, and do they know how to use it?"
Liberty
5:44 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Perhaps you should, as guns have been around for a thousand years. Also ask if there is alcohol in the house and is it secured. Or drugs....... Wasn't comparing guns & cars in that sense, just asked how many civilians do you know who have been injured or killed by a gun. Also permits approved does not equal number of guns. You need to get the permit in order to buy the gun, doesn't mean you have a gun. And you need a permit for each gun you buy.
Not Domino
4:40 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Perhaps my post wasn't clear enough. I was not trying to say that cars are equivalent to guns. I was responding to this statement from the article:
“The number of permits alarm me,” Bailey said, “because you don’t know if these people have any gun safety or gun handling ability."
My point was: The permit issuing authorities should not need to wonder whether or not an applicant has had any gun safety training and demonstrated knowledge of proper gun handling techniques.
Instead, applicants should be REQUIRED to take a course and pass a written test as well as an on-range, live ammo gun handling test in order to be eligible for a permit.
That's the way it was in the state in which I previously lived, and I was very happy to go through that process in order to obtain my permit. In the training, I learned a lot of things I would have otherwise not known. In fact, some of those things may have already saved my life or the lives of others, there's no way to know for sure.
So here is where my comparison between guns and cars starts and ends:
It is ill advised and dangerous to oneself and others to operate a motor vehicle without proper training.
It is ill advised and dangerous to oneself and others to operate a firearm without proper training.
I would go a step further and say It is ill advised and dangerous to oneself and others to operate or even possess a firearm without proper training.
Lt.Dan
5:34 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
I suspect that most people who don't own guns also don't understand the laws already in place. There are very, very few people in Morris County entitled to carry their handguns on their person off their property, concealed or otherwise. Your legally owned gun falls out of your purse at Shop Rite and you may face mandatory prison time under the Graves Act. Prison, not jail.
Law enforcement officers naturally have mixed feelings about an armed populace. But it is the rare retired officer who doesn't own at least one, and the rare retired law enforcement officer who doesn't encourage his loved ones to own a firearm and be prepared to use one in self defense.
SuperDope
5:49 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
@Claire I hope your teen's response to that question is "I don't know".
ND I think many owners would be happy to jump that high if the result was a right to carry. NJ has restrictive ownership laws, adding a few more conditions is unnecessary. No doubt such legislation would be exploited by some, leading to reduced ownership and further oppression of Citizens.
Kevin Nedd
3:47 pm on Saturday, March 2, 2013
“Residents are concerned about the country and where it may be going,” Short said. “There seems to be an uncertainty for some people. [Residents] are finding it their personal responsibility, like they need to defend their own turf.”
This statement speaks volumes of the struggling intellect that stubbornly exists in Washington Township.