Concealed Carry Statistics

At this time, 48 states have legislation on the books that allow people the ability to obtain a concealed carry permit. Two states actually allow people to carry a concealed weapon with no permit at all. Those two states are Alaska and Vermont.

Understanding that a vast majority of the country now live in states in which a person can obtain a concealed carry permit, it is enlightening to see some statistics regarding the use of concealed carry permits and related issues. At present, Florida and a few other states have done the most extensive research in regard to concealed carry permits and the effect that these permits have had on the population as a whole.

While of course the experiences of each state in regard to concealed carry permits differs, it is possible to garner some useful, general information from the Florida experience (and from some of the other states referenced in this article) with concealed carry permits. There is no reason to determine that the the experiences of the states referenced have been markedly different from what has been happening elsewhere.

When it comes to the national statistics regarding concealed carry permits, the vast majority of concealed carry permit holders are men. Looking to the Florida research as confirmation of this national trend, we do find that while over 60,000 women in the Sunshine State have concealed carry permits as of the middle of 2007, an amazing 85% of the concealed carry permit holders were men. Since Florida adopted the concealed carry permit law, over 1.2 million concealed carry permits have been issued in that state.

Statistics also reveal that the number of people who have concealed carry permits is growing fairly rapidly. For example, in Michigan there was reported more than 40,000 applications being submitted for concealed carry permits over the course of a one year period of time.

Supporters of the concealed carry permit laws in the country maintain that those people who have obtained concealed carry permits are very law abiding folks. For example, North Carolina state authorities have reported that of the more that 263,000 people who have has concealed carry permits since the law went on the books in that state, only 0.2% have had their concealed carry permits revoked for some sort of violation.

Over the course the twenty years that the concealed carry permit law has been on the books in Florida, 1,300,000 plus permits have been issued over time. During that period, only a scant 165 have been revoked for a crime involving the use of a firearm. Moreover, only 4,200 Florida concealed carry permits have been revoked for any reason (including the firearm crimes mentioned a moment ago) during that twenty year period of time.

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