The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) reported recently that as of January 1st, 2020 — nearly 12 months ago, already — there were nearly 20 million concealed carry permit holders in the United States.
The CPRC reported that of the 19.48 million concealed carry permit holders in the USA, just over 820,000 Americans got their permit to carry in 2019, alone. That’s a 4.2% increase in a single year.
In fact, of the nearly 20 million, over 34% of permit holders acquired them in the years 2016-2019. That’s 6.6 million permits in a four year time frame.
These latest numbers indicate that there are now 14 states where at least 10% of the adult population has a permit to carry a gun. Those states include: In 14 states, more than ten percent of the adult population has a permit to carry. Those states are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia.
Constitutional Carry States
The CPRC report has no way of counting the millions of citizens who live and carry in the 16 states that don’t require such permits thanks to “Constitutional Carry” laws.
These states include: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Those states still issue permits for purposes of reciprocity with other states, so some of them may be counted in the 19.4 million figure. Still, there are millions of residents in those states that are likely carrying without a permit at all.
The Gun Rush Of 2020 Has Yet To Be Counted
Of course, these numbers predate the Gun Rush of 2020. And as we’ve reported, 2020 has broken the previous records on gun sales every single month of the year.
That’s ten months in a row where gun sales have beaten every other month on record. Estimates put the number of ‘first time’ gun owners at seven million in 2020. Presumably, a large portion of those people will want to carry their defense weapon.
In addition, it’s no stretch to imagine there were many people who owned a gun — but kept it at home prior to 2020 — who went out to get a permit this year for the first time. Thus, they are first time permit holders, but not first time gun owners.
Good News, But It’s Not Time To Celebrate Yet
It’ll be interesting to see how 2020 changes the landscape of Concealed Carry — and especially Constitutional Carry!
One thing is for sure: a Biden- Harris administration isn’t going to leave our gun rights alone just because millions of Americans have seen through the leftist propaganda about guns.
If anything, the anti-gun left is enraged at how much ground they’ve lost in the court of public opinion this year. They’ll do everything in their power to punish gun owners for the black eye that 2020 has given them.