McKean County and other local regions have been on a consistent trend of conceal permit ownership throughout the last decade.
According to a report done in 2017 by the Crime Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania is one of three highest issuers of conceal carry permits with 1.28 million permits, second to Florida which has 1.75 million permits, but surprisingly beating out Texas which has 1.2 million permits.
Pennsylvania is also one of only nine states where 10 percent or more adults have a concealed carry permit.
Three local counties are among the highest adult populations with concealed handgun permits in the state with Potter County at about 50 percent, McKean County at about 35 percent and Cameron County at about 31 percent.
In Cameron County, the number of conceal carry permit purchases average at about 25 per month, according to a representative of the sheriff’s office.
In McKean County, the number of permits since the beginning of 2017 has been close to about 1,400 in total, including new purchases and renewals, which is on pace to the number of permits sold in prior years.
“Permit purchases have been consistent in McKean County for the last five years,” said McKean County Sheriff Dan Woods.
Pennsylvania charges $20 for a five-year conceal carry permit, and has no training requirements to obtain a permit.
“It’s a way of life here, and it’s nothing of concern,” Woods said. “Some folks come in, renew their permits simply because it’s a conveniently nice enough day for it.”
Even though Pennsylvania has one of the lowest conceal carry fees in the nation at $20 and has no training requirements to obtain a permit, the sheriff’s position may be backed by years of crime statistics in McKean County, as gun related crimes are among the lowest in the state as well as the nation.
According to statistics done by the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System, In the year 2016, there was only one crime reported that involved a gun in all of McKean County, and as of 2017 there have been none.
This record of low gun related crimes has remained consistent in the McKean County, as the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency reported back in 2010 that there were less than 10 gun related incidents, none of them being homicide.
Many attribute the lack of gun related incidents in the local regions to a culture revolving around responsible gun ownership, and it seems that the statistics may very well agree with that sentiment.
When contacted, the Elk County Sheriff’s Department was unable to provide any numbers at the time. A representative of the Potter County Sheriff’s Department said they were, “uncomfortable sharing that information.”
