The survey is the first measure of concealed carry permits since 2011, when the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that eight million Americans had such permits. And as noted by the Crime Prevention Research Center, though the survey found that 11,113,013 Americans currently hold concealed carry permits, the number is likely much higher because not all states that issue permits have those figures available.

The figures reveal that Florida has the highest number of concealed carry permits, at 1.3 million, with Texas a close second, at 708,000. Of the states, Hawaii has the lowest, with just 183.

A number of factors contributed to the rise in concealed carry permits, including new state laws. In March, Illinois became the 50th state to begin issuing concealed weapons permits.

FK- Allow me to finish the last sentence of this article: This is precisely why the Founding Fathers included the Second Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, preventing the federal government from infringing on the people’s natural right to defend themselves against tyrants in government and their goons on the street be they in uniform or not.

I’ve claimed for years and will continue to claim that the ‘crime’ argument is a red herring. Even if ‘gun control’ could be proven to reduce crime it would still be evil. The 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with common criminals or ducks, deer or dingos.

We need to bring back the Militias and make them a free-standing force whose primary responsibility is to arrest, try for treason and execute would-be tyrants who upon entering any elected, hired or appointed office and taking an oath to uphold the Bill of Rights would be immediately answerable to the militia for their actions.