Data released by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) show that the number of concealed carry permits in America has now surpassed 21.5 million.
The CPRC study shows the exact number of concealed permits is over 21.52 million, which is a “48% increase since 2016.”
Moreover, the current number of permits represents “a 10.5% increase over the number of permits [CPRC] counted a year ago in 2020.”
Yahoo News noted that the number of concealed carry permits increased by “a record two million last year,” surpassing the previous yearly record of increase by 200,000.
Kiley Russell (L) speaks to salesman Jason Zielinski as she gets information about buying a gun before taking her concealed carry certification test at the Eagle Sports gun range in Oak Forest, Illinois, on July 16, 2017. (Jim Young/AFP via Getty Images)
Alabama leads the Union in the rate of concealed carry permits, with over 32 percent of Alabama’s adult population being permitted to carry. Indiana is second with a rate of nearly 22 percent of adults being permitted, and Iowa is third with a rate of 16.5 percent.
The CPRC researchers noted that the continued growth of constitutional carry means there is an increasing, and unknown, number of law-abiding Americans who carry guns each day for self-defense apart from the cumbersome process of being permitted.
The CPRC explained:
As more and more states decide not to require permits, the number of people who can legally carry a handgun will increasingly outpace the number of permit holders. The number of people who carry permitted concealed handguns is clearly related to the cost of getting permission. When there is no cost whatsoever, concealed carry becomes very popular.
On June 16, 2021, Breitbart News observed that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed legislation making Texas the 21st constitutional carry state. The other 20 states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a TPUSA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.