For Katie Oittinen, a turning point was an afternoon two summers ago when a stranger walked into her living room. When he encountered Oittinen and her dog, a Great Dane mix, the man fled.
But what really scared Oittinen, who was pregnant, was what happened next: She called the police. They said they would come to her Portland home. And they never did.
So after her son was born and she and her husband moved to Granite Falls in Snohomish County, the 29-year-old new mom decided to get a license to carry a concealed handgun. “That was a wake-up call,” she said. “It’s things like that that make you wonder: ‘Who can you really rely on to protect you and your family?’ Pretty much yourself.”
Oittinen is part of a rush of Washington state residents — and especially women — who have obtained concealed-carry permits in record numbers.
Originally published May 31, 2014 at 5:18 PM | Page modified June 2, 2014 at 10:53 AM
State's concealed-carry permits skyrocket, especially for women
The number of Washington state residents
receiving a concealed-carry permit tripled between 2005 and 2012. The
surge has been especially large among women, whose ranks have swelled
twice as fast as men since 2011. Overall, more than 451,000 residents
now have a permit.
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