Fletcher's Follies Followup

A loyal reader who wishes to remain anonymous has graciously put together an Excel graphic that provides an eye-opening view of just how out-of-kilter Ramsey County, Minnesota Sheriff Bob Fletcher's handgun carry permit denial rate is when compared to those of four other counties (Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin and Washington) that make up the Twin Cities metro area.  The cumulative denial rate of all counties in Minnesota except Ramsey is also included for comparison:

(click for a larger view)

Keep in mind that this chart was prepared using the Ramsey County summary numbers from the yearly BCA reports that have already been proven to be false, which means that the difference in the rates between Ramsey and the rest of the counties is even greater than the already-hard to believe distance shown here.

(Interestingly, Sheriff Fletcher's outrageous denial rate dipped sharply in 2008, the year in which we first called attention to his abusive and apparently illegal shenanigans.  Coincidence?  We'll let you decide.)

That same reader also handily reviewed the 2008 Minnesota Department of Public Safety Uniform Crime Report, which shows that Ramsey County had the second lowest crime rate of the five counties during that year, which clearly disproves the theory that the vast majority of persons prohibited from lawfully owning and carrying a handgun reside in Ramsey County.  

This additional information only reinforces our conclusion that Sheriff Fletcher is clearly unlawfully denying eligible Ramsey County residents their handgun carry permits on a systematic basis.  We also stand by our call for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate and discipline Sheriff Fletcher for the blatant misuse of his office's authority.