Well-Armed Women

As I write this the new statistics have just come out for the number of people having concealed carry permits in the United States.

​In October of 2019 it is being reported that almost nineteen million people from the United States now have a concealed carry license so they can legally carry a concealed weapon on their person.

That’s an eight percent growth rate when compared to 2018, and over a three-hundred percent increase since 2007.

To say that concealed carry is a growing activity for conscientious Americans is a gross understatement.

These nineteen million do not include the many, many people who live in states that allow their citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a special permit.

It’s difficult to determine exactly how many concealed carry permit holders are women because not all states break down this data by demographics such as gender or race, but some do. Of the states that do provide this type of data, women were over twenty-six percent of the permit holders.

This is significant.

It’s not significant because of the number of women obtaining a concealed carry permit, but because the increase in women getting permits has outpaced the number of men getting permits.

That’s saying something!

Women are obviously seeing a need, and being a smart bunch, they're doing something about it.

Other demographics are also exploding with their acquisition of concealed carry permits.

In the state of Texas, which reports on both gender as well as race, the number of African Americans getting concealed carry permits has grown twice as quickly as the number of Caucasians seeking permits.

Looking at the combination of gender and race for the states reporting both demographics, the black female permit holders have become the fastest growing population.

The rate of growth for American Indian, Asian, African American, and Caucasian women has grown faster than the rate for men in those racial groups.

Interesting, to say the least, especially if you enjoy dissecting geek stuff like statistics. 

It’s good to see that concealed carry permit holders are a diverse group and not merely the homogeneous bunch of disgruntled, knuckle-dragging white males most often portrayed in the popular media.