Concealed carry gun permit applications "explode" during Obama tenure

This has become such an accepted part of Barack Obama’s legacy at this point that it’s essentially passed into legend, but the data continues to stack up supporting it. Approved applications for concealed carry permits have “exploded” while Obama has been in office, rising more than 200% since 2007. This isn’t some hiccup in the data or momentary glitch, but a sustained trend which has been going on for more than half a decade. (Washington Examiner)

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Americans now holding permits to pack a concealed weapon in public has soared 215 percent since 2007 to over 14.5 million, a record, according to a new report.

The Crime Prevention Research Center said that last year alone a record 1.73 million were approved in states requiring them.

John. R. Lott Jr., president of the Center, added that as the number of concealed carry permits has increased, the murder rate has dropped.

Much of the surge in permits has come due to gun control threats from President Obama and highly-publicized mass shootings that have prompted several law enforcement officials to suggest that Americans arm up.

Reading through the Examiner’s numbers is an eye opening experience to say the least, and the increases we’re seeing are completely out of proportion to the relatively steady rise in population which the United States has experienced during the same periods of study. Starting from Bill Clinton’s reelection in 1996 and running through the majority of Bush 43’s second term in 2007, the total number of concealed carry permit holders in the country steadily grew from 2.7 million to 4.6 million. That’s an average of slightly more than 170K per year. (The general population rose by 31 million in the same period, or roughly 2.8 million per year.)

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But from 2007 until today the number of permit holders swelled to 14.5 million. That breaks down to 850K new permits each year from 2008 to 2011, then jumping even further in the past three years until there were nearly 1.7 million new permits in 2015. That’s essentially ten times the rate of new permit approvals yearly when compared to the heart of the Clinton years. (The population rose an additional 20 million since 2007, by the way.) There have been more than 1.7 million new permits this year already and there are several months to go.

The distribution of these permits is uneven as well. Some states – such as here in New York – make it virtually impossible to obtain one, with little concern given to the Second Amendment. The Empire State won’t even release official numbers, but the best estimate available shows that there were approximately 15,000 of them in 2014. (That’s out of a population of 19.75 million the same year.) By way of comparison, check out these figures.

In 10 states, more than 10% of adults have concealed handgun permits. Indiana has the highest rate — 15%. South Dakota is close behind with 14.7%.

Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas each have over a million residents who are active permit holders.

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If every state required the issuance of concealed carry permits to law abiding citizens as the Constitution would have it, these numbers would be even further through the roof. And why are people scrambling for permits and weapons? Just turn on your television and listen to the promises being made by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democrats.

Mystery solved.

Concealed Carry

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