On the heels of recent news that gun sales are still surging even after the election of President Donald Trump comes further confirmation that more Americans than ever are looking to arm up. According to a new report from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), the number of new concealed handgun permits issued in the U.S. grew by a record 1.83 million in the past year. That marks the fourth consecutive year of record growth in concealed handgun permits nationwide.
The research also shows who is driving the growth in gun permits, and it appears to be women and minorities. In states that keep gender data on permit holders, the number of women getting gun permits is growing at a far faster rate than men. And in states that keep records on the race of concealed handgun permits, the number of blacks with permits grew 30 percent faster than whites. The number of gun permits grew even faster among Asians in those states.
Michele Byington, attorney with U.S. Law Shield, recently told KTRH the numbers about women and minorities arming up don't surprise her. "With women, I think the answer there is pretty obvious, that the majority of us are physically inferior to the average male--God knows if it came to a fist-to-fist fight with me and another guy, I will lose every time," she says. "So the firearm has really become the great equalizer for women--for those of us who work late and are going to our cars in parking garages late at night--it gives us that sense of security that we will have a fighting chance."
The CPRC report shows that the total number of concealed handgun permit holders in the U.S. is now 16.3 million. That number grew by a whopping 256 percent during the eight years that Barack Obama was president.