ELKO, Nev. (AP) — A northeast Nevada county sheriff says his office is seeing a spike in concealed carry weapons permit applications.

Elko County Sheriff Jim Pitts told the Elko County Commission on Wednesday that he has changed employee hours to handle the surge, and he asked Elko Police Chief Ben Reed to have police conduct fingerprints on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Elko Daily Free Press reports that city police also were asked to handle fingerprint cards for anyone other than ex-felons and sex offenders.

Pitts said that by the end of June, his office handled 468 concealed carry permits. He says the agency handled 468 applications in 2014 and fewer than that number in all of 2015. The sheriff reported 2,760 active concealed carry licenses in Elko County as of July 1.

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