Minnesota sheriffs issued approximately 51,400 handgun carrying permits in 2019, according to a state Department of Public Safety report.
That brings the total number of permit-holding Minnesotans to around 300,000. But fewer were issued last year than in 2018, when some 66,000 permits were issued.
Permit applications for last year totaled 53,310.
More permits were granted in Hennepin County than anywhere else in the state, according to the annual report. A total of 6,124 were issued there compared with nearly 3,700 in Anoka County, which issued the second highest number of permits.
Dakota and Ramsey counties issued the third and fourth most permits at approximately 3,200 and 3,000, respectively. St. Louis County issued the fifth most, or around 2,800.
Statewide, permit holders committed 1,891 crimes in 2019. According to the report, DUIs and other traffic offenses account for nearly 58 percent of that figure.
Sheriffs suspended about 140 permits last year, meanwhile, and revoked 33 more.
Handgun carriers in Minnesota are required to receive gun safety training and must pass a background check in order to obtain their permits, which are issued by county sheriffs. Permits are valid for five years.
