By Jef Rietsma
Journal Correspondent
Concealed pistol license applications to the county clerk’s office were at an eight-year high in 2020.
St. Joseph County clerk Lindsay Oswald shared various statistics with commissioners Wednesday during their executive committee meeting, as she presented her annual report, for the period covering 2019 and 2020.
The number of CPL applications stands out. In 2020, Oswald’s office fielded nearly 1,500 applications. The previous high within an eight-year period shown in her graphic was in 2016, when nearly 1,200 applications were filed.
Oswald said she wouldn’t be surprised if the 2020 figure marked an all-time high for St. Joseph County.
“There seems to be a trend, every presidential-election year we have an uptick,” she said, adding that the state in 2020 also made it easier to renew licenses online. “We still process them, even though they didn’t come into the office to start the process, we still do all the paperwork for it. S