How Many People Really Carry Concealed?
Estimated numbers compiled by NSSF indicate that more people than ever are carrying a concealed weapon these days. Not surprisingly (and despite anti-gun rhetoric to the contrary), crime has not increased commensurately with with the greater number of “guns on the street.”
While nationwide CCW is estimated to be around 4%, some states are estimated to have 10% or more of the population packing (good job, Iowa and South Dakota), with several others following closely. See the chart below for a full state-by-state breakdown.
Reasons for the increased number of concealed carriers are many and varied. As depicted in the map above, many states have moved from having no concealed carry or restrictive “may issue” CCW regulations to being “shall issue” states. Even unlikely states like Illinois have joined the concealed carry crowd. This relaxation of carry restrictions allows more people to get carry permits, which may help to remove the perceived stigma of carrying a firearm, which snowballs into even greater numbers as citizens view a firearm as a viable way to protect themselves and their loved ones. Greater reciprocity and even the ability to take CCW training online make it even easier for law abiding individuals to get a permit.
Do you or someone you know carry a concealed firearm? Share your story and experiences below in the comments section.
Fact: Total concealed carry permits in the U.S. increased approximately 29 percent from an estimated 6.9 million in 2010 to an estimated 9.0 million in 2012.
New Trio of Concealed Carry Resource Books are on Shelves
A new trio of concealed carry resources are available from the recently launched 2nd Amendment Media imprint of Whitman publishing. The trio includes a summary of firearms laws around the United States and two guides to carrying a concealed firearm.
Legally Armed: A Concealed Carry Gun Law Guide includes a state-by-state guide to the “law of the land” concerning various aspects of CCW with photo illustrations by firearms photographer Oleg Volk. The book covers basics like who can get a carry permit, whether open carry is allowed, how firearms can (and can not) be carried in vehicles. The guide also covers essentials like where you can and can not carry (for instance, in restaurants that serve alcohol or state parks), whether or not you have the “duty to inform” a law enforcement officer if they make contact with you, and more – including relevant excerpts from the state laws. Legally Armed also touches on other aspects of firearms ownership, such as NFA status.
Each state is also graded on an A+ (like Kentucky) through F (like Illinois) scale based on how much gun control. Additionally, contact information is given for the entity that regulates concealed carry such as the state police or state’s attorney general’s office.
In addition to an overview of the 50 states’ laws, Legally Armed also covers Continue reading
ReadyShot Lets you Train at Home with Your Own Carry Gun
ReadyShot kit. Glock Not Included.
To keep any skill sharp, it is important to practice that skill. Shooting is no different. If anything, practicing your firearms skills is more important than many other skills since your life may one day depend on it. However, whether it is due to ammo costs, range restrictions, lack of time or some other reason, many of us might not get to train as often or in the manner that we would like to. We recently had the chance to try out a new tool that can help keep shooting skills sharp – the ReadyShot system.
We met ReadyShot founder Brent Backhaus at the 2014 NRA Annual Meetings where he introduced us to his creation- a laser training system that lets you train how you want, where you want, when you want, with your own firearm.
We have used laser training tools before and have done our fair share of dry fire/snap cap practice, and each of them have their own benefits and downfalls. For instance, dry fire practice with snap caps is a great way to work on draw-and-fire drills, work on grip and trigger manipulation and other fundamentals but, without feedback on where your “shots” hit, it is of limited use. Some laser training tools give you various degrees of feedback but, with simple bullseye-style targets or cans, they more closely mimic plinking practice rather than practical firearms use. Further, many of them may be difficult or tedious to use, requiring the user to cycle the slide or hammer to reset the trigger to allow for follow up shots.
The ReadyShot overcomes many of those issues through its innovative target system and gun insert for single action striker fired pistols like the Glock and XD. Additionally, each component of the ReadyShot system is available a la carte and is, for the most part, compatible with other laser training systems. We had a chance to try out the ReadyShot Glock Kit both as a standalone unit and with other training system components. Continue reading
Shooting for Survival – An FBI Training Film From the 1970s
“Shooting For Survival” is an FBI training film produced by the US Department of Justice circa mid-1970s. This short film presents basic rules for survival against hostile fire including taking cover, shooting from cover and several defensive firearms techniques as they were taught to law enforcement personnel 40 years ago.
Talk Training, Survival and Prepping on the GunLink Forums
The scout motto is “Be Prepared.” From Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys:
[Being prepared] means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY.
– Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.
– Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it.
Many GunLink readers have undoubtedly outgrown their scouting years, but that is no reason not to abandon those principles. Life comes with many uncertainties and the world around us is filled with the potential for unexpected situations which could turn out to be dangerous. Spending one’s entire life in a secret underground bunker isn’t feasible (or, likely, healthy) so one must venture forth into the world and meet those dangers head-on. The best way to do that is to be prepared for those situations ahead of time.
Don’t misunderstand – obviously not all of these situations are life-and-death scenarios. Preppers are often derisively dismissed as end of the world whack jobs preparing for some just-over-the-horizon doomsday. Those who choose to carry a concealed handgun are sometimes seen as paranoid.
The truth is, prepping can be as little as carrying a multi-tool or learning a useful skill or as much as stocking your de-milled missile silo with a decade worth of food and water. Training can be as little as hitting the range with your single-shot hunting rifle or practicing your family’s fire escape route or as much as taking a lengthy course from a professional. Survival skills can mean as little as navigating back to town when your vehicle runs out of gas to staying alive when your three hour boat tour turns into an extended stay on a deserted island.
Whatever you’re training for, preparing for or planning on surviving, you can share your tips, ask your questions and join the discussion in the Training, Survival and Prepping board on the GunLink Forums. See you there.
A CCW Permit Online? In Under an Hour?
Get a carry permit online in under an hour? Sound too good to be true? Well, it is – but keep reading anyway because it is almost that easy. There is an online resource called Carry Academy that, although it doesn’t get you your actual permit, could save you a lot of time and money on your path to concealed carry by taking care of training requirements online in about 45 minutes. Then all that’s left is for you to apply for your permit.
Expedite Your Permit Process
A common course of action for many, if not most, applicants goes something like this… You decide you want to carry a concealed weapon so you start hunting around for information about how to get a license and (usually) find that the process involves some sort of training. So then you look for instructors in your area who teach the required class and hope that you can find one that fits into your schedule. If you get lucky and find one that fits, you wait for training day to roll around, pay the course fee, spend the whole day in class and wait for your certificate of completion to show up so that you can submit it with your permit application and start the real wait.
The Carry Academy fast forwards the process for many by providing an on-demand firearms safety course online any time you want and costing only $50. The online course condenses much of the material that you would otherwise get in the classroom into Continue reading
