Fox News has a news story on our newest annual report on the number of concealed handgun permits.
A new report reveals that despite some states getting tougher on gun control, the number of Americans with permits to carry concealed firearms has spiked in recent years.
According to data from the Crime Prevention Research Center, there are nearly 19.5 million people in the U.S. with concealed carry permits, showing exponential growth in recent decades.G
“There were 2.7 million concealed handgun permit holders in 1999, 4.6 million in 2007, 8 million in 2011, 11.1 million in 2014, and now 19.48 million in 2020,” the report says.
The report states that among adults in the U.S., 7.6% now hold concealed carry permits, and this does not account for those living in the 16 states that do not require concealed carry permits. This is despite continued restrictions against concealed carry in both California and New York. Taking those large populations out of the equation, the report says, the percentage of adults with concealed carry permits rises to approximately 9.2%. . . .
Ronn Blitzer, “Concealed carry permits rise despite clampdown from some states, report finds,” Fox News, October 5, 2020.
From the Washington Examiner:
The growth of adults holding permits to carry concealed guns has surged 34% in the past four years, and the rush to get one has resulted in long lines as some counties have faced cutbacks due to the coronavirus crisis, according to a new report.
John Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center revealed that there are 19.48 million permit holders, 820,000 more than in 2019.
He found that women and minorities are leading in the new applications. “Permits for women and minorities continue to increase at a much faster rate than for either men or whites,” he said. That finding parallels reports from gun stores that women and minorities are buying weapons and signing up for concealed carry classes at a brisk pace.
The authority on the issue, Lott said that the growth has slowed recently as states have curbed issuing permits due to cutbacks from the coronavirus crisis.
Cam Edward’s Bearing Arms site said that with requests for the permits surging, and coronavirus mitigation efforts limiting office work, lines and wait times to get one have also increased. He noted that in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, applicants have to wait until March to get a concealed carry license.
Paul Bedard, “Women, minorities rush to get concealed carry permits, up 34%,” Washington Examiner, October 6, 2020.
See also the discussion at AllOutdoor
Caveats in data quality are mostly due to an increase in the number of states (now 17) that do not require a permit or license to carry concealed. Most of these are not keeping data, but some do.
Here are a few highlights from the published summary. For a detailed look at this and previous years’ reports since 2014, check out this link to Crime Prevention Research Center.Concealed carry licensure continues to grow, but not as fast.
The number of permit holders increased by 820,000. That represents just 4.4% over 2019, the most sluggish grown since 2011. CRPC states the reason for slower growth is two-fold: growth in states moving to permitless carry policies, and state governments’ corona virus-related shutdowns. Thanks to the increase in permitless carry states, it’s likely that the actual number of people carrying concealed has increased more than this number shows.Lots of Americans are licensed to carry.
Nationally speaking, 7.6% of adults have a permit. Omit severely restrictive, highly populated California and New York, and about 9.2% of adults are licensed.Really, a LOT of Americans.
More than 10% of adults are licensed in 14 states, including Alabama (the highest at 28.45%), Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Colorado, Utah, Kentucky, Florida, Washington, and West Virginia. Two states, Alaska and Arkansas, fell off the list, probably because they implemented permitless carry. . . .
Eve Flanagan, “CRPC Releases Annual National Concealed Carry Report for 2020,” AllOutDoor, October 5, 2020.
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