Nebraska residents know what Westroads Mall management doesn't

Thanks again to Joe's Crabby Shack, this time for pointing us to a story about a spike in the number of applications for handgun permits in Douglas County, Nebraska, in the wake of the Westroads Mall massacre in Omaha.

Applications for permits to buy handguns have more than doubled in Douglas County since the Westroads Mall shootings.

More than 100 applications have gone through the sheriff's office since the shootings.

Don't even get me started on the Big Brotheresque evil of requiring a permit to exercise the Constitutional right of keeping (I haven't gotten to the "bearing" part yet) arms--you'll never shut me up. Still, it's interesting to note that while citizen disarmament advocates point to these atrocities as evidence that the solution is . . . you guessed it--more citizen disarmament, the people who actually live in the affected areas seem to know better.

"What we're seeing now is people wanting to defend themselves, be able to defend themselves," said Douglas County Chief Deputy Marty Bilek.

Bilek said his department issued 43 certifications in the week before the shootings -- in the week following, they issued 105.

"This is the largest spike we've ever seen," Bilek said.

Keep in mind that what I've talked about so far is simply permits to own handguns--it takes a separate permit for concealed carry (the "bearing" of arms that I mentioned would be coming later)--interest in those has risen, too.

Interest in concealed-carry permits is also up, though not as much, Douglas County reported.

The National Safety Council Omaha Chapter said it had canceled several training courses the last few months, but not in December.

"People are always concerned. They're just sad that it happened in Omaha, and I think they always want to know what they can do to help," said National Safety Council Omaha Chapter President Kay Farrell.

Of course, Westroads Mall management has once again decreed that even concerned shoppers with permits would be criminals if they had the audacity to refuse to be helpless while in the mall.

The growing number of permit applicants would seem to indicate that a growing number of Nebraskans view their safety in a much different light than does mall management. Perhaps these safety-minded individuals should drop the mall a line--"No guns=No money."