There’s an interesting statistic that, when you read it, you’ll be wondering why anti-2A people aren’t out there crowing about it, bragging about how they are “winning” the war on guns. But they aren’t bragging about that in the media. What’s going on with that?
That’s a good question, and, while I don’t claim to be able to read minds, I suspect that it comes down to them understanding that the number of concealed carry permits isn’t related to what anti-2A people are all worked up about: gun ownership.
So, the question, then, is what is going on with gun ownership and why isn’t the number of permits related to the ownership number? The answer isn’t hard to figure out if you understand the reality of the situation, and, fortunately, there are people who do (hat tip to here for the lead). Stephen Dinan writes,
More than half of the states now allow residents to carry concealed guns without a permit, leading to a sea change in gun habits, according to a study by the leading researcher on the issue.
John R. Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, said the result is that fewer people are obtaining permits but more people are likely carrying concealed weapons.
It is happening in new areas and demographics. Lower barriers to carrying means more racial minorities and women are carrying in high-crime urban areas, which should lead to dropping crime rates, Mr. Lott said.
Dinan continues:
Mr. Lott said the number of permits issued in states where permits are still required rose by 317,185 over the past year. The number of active permits in constitutional carry states dropped even more, by 485,013, leading to the half-percentage-point drop nationwide.
So, what we have is more gun owners and more people carrying, but because many of those gun owners live in constitutional carry/permitless carry states, not as many are getting permits. So, fewer permits but more gun owners and more people carrying daily.
It’s got to terrify anti-2A zealots to know that.
And that’s a great thing.
