For a second consecutive month, the state has received a record number of applications for a concealed carry handgun permit.
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office reported Monday that it had received 3,573 applications during February. That surpasses the previous one-month record of 3,167 permits that were filed in January.
Before January, the single largest month total was 1,651 applications in March 2012. The state began issuing concealed carry permits in 2007.
The increase matches what is being seen across the country in the wake of calls for stricter gun laws following the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
The state is on pace to break the record for a fiscal year months ahead of time. Through the first seven months of fiscal year 2013, the state has received 11,426 applications, just shy of the 12,408 applications submitted in fiscal year 2012.
As of March 1, 53,180 Kansans have an active concealed carry permit.