North Dakota Concealed Carry Permits Down In 2013

Between 2005 and and 2012 there was a 479 percent increase in the number of North Dakota concealed carry permits issued. Applications for permits were so hot and heavy that Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s office was having problems keeping up. State law requires that the AG’s office rule on a permit within sixty days, but some permits were taking much longer.

It seems the AG’s office is catching up now. Mike Nowatzki reports for Forum Communications that the processing time for permits is down to 35 days on average. That’s no doubt due to the AG’s office assigning more staff to processing permits, as well as a decline in the number of permits requested in 2013.

What’s interesting is how the numbers declined, and it has a lot to do with the oil boom. As you can see from the chart below, the number of permits requested from non-oil patch counties actually increased in 2013. The overall numbers declined because there were fewer requests from the oil patch and non-residents.