SAN DIEGO -- Inquiries about concealed-carry gun permits in the San Diego area have spiked since last week's deadly mass shooting at a San Bernardino social-services center, according to the sheriff's department.
The surge in public interest in concealed-carry weapon permits, or CCWs, has been typical of what generally occurs following high-profile firearm rampages, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Caldwell.
"Calls inquiring about CCWs always trend up after a tragedy, such as (the one in) San Bernardino," she said.
Caldwell said she could provide no specific numbers about the upswing in queries about or applications for the permits since last Wednesday, when a married couple opened fire with assault rifles at the Inland Regional Center, killing 14 people and injured 21 others in what is being investigated as a terrorist attack.
A federal representative said figures regarding background checks for local gun purchases over the last week were not available.
"We do not answer questions about transaction fluctuations or policy matters pertaining to firearms sales," said Stephen Fischer, a spokesman for the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services agency. "As a general rule, we provide monthly statistics on the (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) website. ... We only provide daily/weekly statistics if a new record results."
Last week, the agency reported just such a milestone uptick in gun background checks -- 185,345 of them nationally -- for Nov. 27. The figure represented a roughly 5 percent increase over that of the previous "Black Friday," the traditionally shopping-intensive day after Thanksgiving.
