While the number of people seeking a concealed-carry permit for a gun in Colorado has skyrocketed, the ease with which some certification is done is coming under scrutiny, even by Second Amendment supporters, reports the Denver Post. In Colorado, certification for the permit can be as simple as watching an online video over a lunch hour and taking a free test. In surrounding states, it is not so simple.
“That was never the intention of the bill,” said state Sen. Lois Tochtrop, who sponsored concealed-carry legislation in 2002. “I don’t like the idea of it (certification) being done online,” she said. “That is something that may need to be tweaked.” As the number of background checks for firearms purchases in Colorado soars, so do the checks processed for concealed-weapon permits. From 2004, the first full year of the current concealed-carry law, to 2011, the number of checks processed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for concealed-weapon permits rose by 14,123, or 185 percent.