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SALT LAKE CITY -- More people are "packing heat" in Utah. The Bureau of Criminal Identification has issued a record number of carry-conceal gun permits this year.
The agency says it has issued 52,000 permits so far this year, compared to 44,000 in all of last year. In fact, the demand is so high there's a backlog of applications waiting to be processed.
"If we stick with the same average that we've had over the last seven months, we're probably going to be roughly 80,000 permits this year," said Lt. Doug Anderson, with the Utah Department of Public Safety.
State law requires applications be processed in 60 days, but the average wait is about 85 days. The BCI has increased its work force to meet the demand.
For a more-detailed breakdown of the numbers, see the links below:
