After City Council recently relaxed the famously strict regulations for Hathianites to obtain firearm permits on January 25th, gun sales in the city have gone through the roof.
The 24 Hour Pawn Shop, located off the Hathian Highway just behind the Daily Grind, is the only business in Hathian that is legally allowed to sell firearms after recently obtaining a permit to do so.
“In some ways it’s a good thing, because the town is full of some of the worst crimes, and it’s good to see people wanting to protect themselves,” says Audrina Canning, who runs the pawn shop alongside her husband, Stu. “But, it’s hard not to judge some of the faces coming through my doors and buying the guns. I mean, would you want a Reject owning a gun?”
Of course, this is always somewhat of a fine line, having firearms available without knowing whether or not someone is planning on using the gun for protection, or malicious intent.
“I think people have a right to protect themselves, but at what point do we draw a line?” questions Canning. “If everyone has a gun, I fear that the violent crime rate will skyrocket. At what point do we feel more safe or that we’re living in a war zone?”
Since gun permits have been more easy to obtain, a noticeable spike in the activity of violent crimes has already occurred. A number of shootouts have taken place, resulting in officers, criminals, and innocent people being injured or in danger. This leads anyone to make the correlation that because firearms are more readily available, more crimes are going to be taking place.
Though it’s not only citizens that have access to new weaponry. The Hathian Police Department has also received a new shipment of police issue firearms for their officers who have obtained the proper permits and training. Though, with the recent events that have occurred regarding the HPD, one wonders if this is a good thing or not.
What is obvious though, is that one way or another, citizens are going to have to watch their backs and be more careful than they ever have before.
