Cheshire Has Sixth Lowest Pistol Permit Rate in New Haven County

Smaller Connecticut towns have shown a higher rate when it comes to residents owning pistol permits, but Cheshire as a mid-sized town remains lower in the state based on percentage.

A database of pistol permits issued by town shows Southington ranks as the sixth lowest by percentage in New Haven County with a 4.9 percent rate and is in the lower third all Connecticut towns, according to a new map database published by The New Haven Register.

The town currently maintains 1,433 active permits as of December 2012.

Click here to see the full database on the entire state.

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Across the state, smaller towns showed a higher percentage of gun ownership and pistol permit rates.

Canaan accounted for the highest rate in Connecticut at about 13.5 percent of the population. The top five communities with the highest percentage of the population having pistol permits were Canaan, Union, Harwinton, Hartland and Hampton.

Percentage-wise, Oxford comes in first in New Haven County with 9.9 percent of its residents holding gun permits, followed by Prospect at 9.4 percent and Wolcott at 8.6 percent.

Waterbury has the highest number of pistol permits issued with residents accounting for 3,372 permits, the database shows, followed by Meriden at 3,033 and nearby Wallingford at 2,812.

The town-by-town breakdown in New Haven County is as follows:

Ansonia – 5.3 percent
Beacon Falls – 7.4 percent
Bethany – 8.1 percent
Branford – 5 percent
Cheshire – 4.9 percent
Derby – 5.9 percent
East Haven – 5.4 percent
Guilford – 5.2 percent
Hamden – 3.5 percent
Madison – 3.9 percent
Meriden – 5 percent
Middlebury – 7.4 percent
Milford – 5.2 percent
Naugatuck – 5.7 percent
New Haven – 1.6 percent
North Branford – 8.2 percent
North Haven – 7 percent
Orange – 5.9 percent
Oxford – 9.9 percent
Prospect  – 9.4 percent
Seymour – 7.1 percent
Southbury – 5.5 percent
Wallingford – 6.2 percent
Waterbury – 3.1 percent
West Haven – 3.6 percent
Wolcott – 8.6 percent
Woodbridge – 4.8 percent

To read The New Haven Register’s story on small towns having a higher percentage of gun permit holders, click here.

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