Though half the states in the union now have some type of “constitutional-carry” law on the books, and so citizens don’t have to get special permission, via concealed-carry permits, to use their right to carry for self-defense, the number of Americans with concealed-carry permits has still gone up in the last year.
The number of citizens with concealed-carry permits in the U.S. increased by another 488,000, a 2.3% increase from 2021, according to data from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC). The CPRC’s data does show that the number of permits fell in constitutional-carry states over the last year, as residents basically only need permits to use when they travel to non-constitutional-carry states with reciprocity agreements, nevertheless the overall number went up.
This CPRC report does not rely on surveys or polls. The CPRC used publicly available information from the states that provide data to tabulate these statistics. And the numbers must be surprising the mainstream media; after all, an “estimated 8.5% of Americans now have permits,” says the CPRC; in fact, women now make up 29.2% of permit holders.
These numbers are particularly relevant given that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s “may-issue” concealed-carry law last June in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, affirming a constitutional right to bear arms outside the home.
Now, post-Bruen, what might happen to the number of permits in formally “may-issue” only states? Some of those states, such as New York, are resisting by coming up with new unconstitutional requirements for law-abiding citizens, but these restrictions are being challenged in court by the NRA.
Incredibly, in 17 states, more than 10% of adults now have permits. “Since 2019, Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota have fallen below 10%, but they are now all constitutional-carry states, meaning that people no longer need a permit to carry,” reports the CPRC. At the same time, the concealed-carry rates in Connecticut, North Carolina and Wisconsin have risen to above 10% this year for the first time.
At 32.5%, Alabama has the highest concealed-carry rate for adults. Indiana is second with 23.4% and Georgia third with 15.5%. Also, six states now have over 1 million permit holders; these are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Texas. Florida has the most permit holders (2.57 million).
The popularity of practicing this right has actually been going up for decades as freedom has spread via “shall-issue” and then constitutional-carry laws. Recently, policies and rhetoric from the far Left—defund-the-police lunacy, “bail-reform” laws that have allowed violent criminals to walk as they await trial and more—have resulted in rises in crime, which has then convinced more law-abiding Americans to prepare to protect themselves by obtaining concealed-carry permits (if they need them) and by buying firearms.
Though the growth in the number of citizens obtaining concealed-carry permits has slowed—again, largely because of the growth of constitutional-carry states—the trend of more law-abiding Americans embracing their freedom is showing no sign of abating. A1F.com will keep you up to date as legal challenges to restrictions on this critical right continue.
