ARE YOU PACKIN'?

The annual report on concealed carry in the United States, published by the Crime Prevention Research Center, has some eye-opening details about the number of legally armed citizens. It also has a very plausible explanation for why the number of active permits and licenses has dropped slightly for the second year in a row.

According to the CPRC, which was founded and is run by author and researcher John Lott, nobody should be fooled into presuming people are giving up their guns. With 29 states now online with permitless (a.k.a. "Constitutional") carry, many citizens are simply not renewing their carry document and are still legally packing. How many folks are packing hardware? Who really knows? For Second Amendment purists, that's exactly the way things are supposed to be.

Released late last year, the report says at least 8.2% of American adults have carry permits/licenses. Leave New York and California out of the equation, and the percentage jumps to 9.8%. Stop and think about this for just a bit. Odds are pretty good that in many places, nearly one-in-ten adults within your view might be armed, and it has been this way for a few years. It's enough to give the gang at Everytown for Gun Safety the shivers. .....