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Concealed Carry Statistics

Alabama 755,618 est June, 2017
Alaska 9870 March 16, 2017
Arizona 325421 December 28, 2017
Arkansas 220,224 March 14, 2017
California 92,000 December 31, 2016
Colorado 388,646 April 30, 2017
Connecticut 255,502 April 30, 2017
Delaware 17,436 March 28, 2017
District of Columbia 124 July 3, 2017
Florida 1,784,395 June 30, 2017
Georgia 979,006 May, 2017
Hawaii 0 December 31, 2016
Idaho 129,312 June 16, 2017
Illinois 243,245 May 31, 2017
Indiana 799,546 March 31, 2017
Iowa 273,852 December 31, 2016
Kansas 93,092 March 27, 2017
Kentucky 311,994 December 31, 2015
Louisiana 173,881 December 31, 2016
Maine 42,000 June 30, 2017
Maryland 17,414 March 16, 2017
Massachusetts 412,369 December, 2016
Michigan 616,508 June 2, 2017
Minnesota 276,109 July 1, 2017
Mississippi 46,598 June 21, 2016
Missouri 160,184 December 31, 2012
Montana 50,050 March 14, 2017
Nebraska 55,710 March 27, 2017
Nevada 119,162 June 1, 2017
New Hampshire 89,084 December 31, 2016
New Jersey 1,212 2012-2013
New Mexico 42,839 March 16, 2017
New York 88,205 est June, 2017
North Carolina 604,737 May 31, 2017
North Dakota 48,700 December 31, 2016
Ohio 623,000 December 31, 2016
Oklahoma 283,587 May 8, 2017
Oregon 256,943 May 1, 2017
Pennsylvania 1,275,000 March 15, 2017
Rhode Island 2,560 March 14, 2017
South Carolina 308,406 December 31, 2016
South Dakota 93,438 May 31, 2017
Tennessee 594,498 June 2, 2017
Texas 1,200,746 May 31, 2017
Utah 698,920 March 31, 2017
Vermont No permits issued  
Virginia 429,837 March 14, 2017
Washington 578,299 March 15, 2017
West Virginia 147,801 February 28, 2015
Wisconsin 328,907 June 1, 2017
Wyoming 31,758 March 16, 2017
there are now
15
permitless carry states

States With The Highest Permit Users (2018)

Concealed Carry Permits Map

Image: Concealed Carry Permits by State

Map key

  • 15 + %
  • 10 - 15 %
  • 5 - 10 %
  • 2 - 5 %
  • 0 - 2 %
  • No permit required

Four states, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Pennsylvania have more than a million permit holders.

Gun Ownership Notes

chart for concealed carry statistics Statistics on concealed carry permit data cannot be considered an accurate measurement of gun ownership. There are three main reasons;

  • These figures do not take into account persons who carry handguns in the 14 states that do not require a permit. People usually only obtain a permit in these states for out-of-state travel. Plus the fact no fee's or training is required probably means these states have some of the highest rates of handgun ownership.
  • It is difficult to obtain data from some states. Data in New York and Alabama is not collected at the state level, it is left up to the counties or cities.
  • About 687,840 of the permits are "non-residential" which can distort the figures as the holders most often have another permit in their home state.
  • Some of the data is over a year old so does not take into account recent growth.

With the trend towards permitless concealed carry, it will become more difficult to obtain data on handgun ownership. It is safe to say that the figure of 17 million issued concealed carry permits is an under estimate of the total active concealed permits in the United States.

NICS Checks on Private Gun Sales

USA Background Check Map

Image: Background Check Requirements by State

Map Key

 
Transfer of handguns
 
Transfer of all firearms
 
Voluntary checks
 
No checks on private sales
states requiring checks
18
on private gun sales

States that require a background Check

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington

Check out more CCW maps in our library.

BACKGROUND CHECKS & PRIVATE GUN SALES

There are now 18 states that require a background check for private gun sales. They have basically extended the Federal background check law to include private sales. And at least eight of these states now require background checks at the point of sale for all types of firearms. The states that have this requirement are; California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, District of Columbia. Two states, Pennsylvania and Maryland limit the check to only handguns. There are four states, Illinois, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Massachusetts that require any person purchasing a firearm to get a permit after a background check. And a further four states, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, and North Carolina that have the same requirement but limit it to handguns. You are also required in Illinois to have a background check when a firearm is sold at any gun show. Under Nevada law unlicensed sellers can request a background check on anyone purchasing a firearm, but it is not mandatory and left up to the discretion of the seller. Unlicensed sellers are also required by many of these jurisdictions to keep a record of any firearms sales and in some states report to law enforcement any sales of firearms.

Concealed Carry Permit Holders Crime Statistics

CCW permit holders according to the statistics are unlikely to break the law. Remember there are over 16.3 million permit holders in the US so any violations are very rare. In fact there are probably no other groups of people in the US who are as law abiding. If we compare concealed carry permit holders to the police we can see just how law abiding they really are. The Police Quarterly conducted a study that showed police committed;

  • 703 crimes per year (average from 2005 - 2007)
  • 113 of those crimes involved firearms violations

That may be an underestimate when you take into consideration that not every crime committed by the police gets media attention. From 2005 - 2007 there was about 685,464 full time police officers in the US. This allows us to calculate that there was;

103 crimes per hundred thousand officers.

The crime rate for the entire US population was 37 times higher;

3,813 crimes per hundred thousand people

It may be that police crimes do not get reported as much due to fellow officers staying silent. But you cannot ignore the fact that there is a big gap between the police and the general population when it comes to reported crimes. If you look at the following figures you will see that concealed carry permit holders are actually more law abiding than the police.

Florida revoked 11,189 concealed carry permits for violations such as misdemeanors or felonies between 1987 -2017. This works out an annual rate of 10.4 permits revoked per 100,000.

Texas had 148 concealed carry permit holders convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in 2016. This works out to a conviction rate of 12.3 percent per 100,000. When the Texas and Florida data is combined it shows that CCW permit holders are convicted of felonies and misdemeanors at a rate of 2.4 per 100,000. While among police the rate is 16.5 per 100,000 officers. Texas and Florida have some of the highest rates of CCW permit holders but the figures are similar in other states with less permit holders.

In summary CCW permit holders are convicted of crimes at less than a sixth of that for police officers.
 

Concealed Carry Permit Fees

StatePermit TypeInitial Handgun Carry Permit FeeLength Permit is Valid (years)Cost to carry for 5 years
Alabama Concealed handgun permit $5-$30 per year
Varies by County
1-5 years (chosen by applicant) $25-$130
Varies by County
Alabama Concealed handgun permit $5-$30 per year
Varies by County
1-5 years (chosen by applicant) $25-$130
Varies by County
Alaska Constitutional carry/permit available for reciprocity $87 5 $87
Arizona Constitutional carry/permit available for reciprocity $60.00 5 $60
Arkansas Constitutional carry/permit available for reciprocity $137
$87 (age 65+)
5 $137
California Concealed carry weapons license $100 plus additional fees. Varies by county. 2 $212
Colorado Concealed handgun permit $52.50 plus additional fees 5 $52
Connecticut State permit to carry pistols or revolvers $70.00 5 $70
Delaware License to carry concealed deadly weapon $65 5 $65
District of Columbia Concealed carry pistol license $75 2 $225
Florida Concealed weapon or firearm license $97 7 $97
Georgia Weapons carry license $75.00 varies by county 5 $75
Hawaii License to carry handgun $42 1 $210
Idaho Concealed weapons license $20.00 plus additional fees 5 $20
Illinois Concealed carry license $150 5 $150
Indiana License to carry handgun $51.95 or
$211.95 lifetime
4 $64
Iowa Permit to carry weapons $50.00 5 $50
Kansas Constitutional carry/Concealed carry handgun license available for reciprocity $132.50 4 $165
Kentucky Carry concealed deadly weapon license $60.00 5 $60
Louisiana Concealed handgun permit $125.00 or $500 lifetime 5 $125
Maine Constitutional carry/Concealed handgun permit available for reciprocity. $35 4 $43
Maryland Handgun wear and carry permit $75.00 plus fingerprint fees 3 $125
Massachusetts License to carry firearms $100 6 $100
Michigan Concealed pistol license $115 4 $143
Minnesota Permit to carry pistol $100 varies by county 5 $100
Mississippi Constitutional carry/Firearms permit available for reciprocity $112 5 $112
Missouri Concealed carry permit $100 5 $100
Montana Concealed carry handgun permit $60 4 $75
Nebraska Concealed handgun permit $100 5 $100
Nevada Concealed firearm permit $96.25 5 $96
New Hampshire Constitutional carry/Pistol & Revolver License available for reciprocity $10 resident
$100 non-resident
4 $12
New Jersey Permit to carry a handgun $50 plus additional fees 2 $250
New Mexico Concealed handgun license $100 4 $125
New York Pistol & revolver license $20 varies by county 5 $20
New York City Handgun license $340 plus additional fees 3 $566
North Carolina Concealed handgun permit $80 plus additional fees 5 $80
North Dakota Constitutional carry/Concealed weapons license available for reciprocity $60 5 $60
Ohio License to carry a concealed handgun $67 5 $67
Oklahoma Self defense act license $100 or $200 for 10 years 5 $100
Oregon Concealed handgun license $65 4 $81
Pennsylvania License to carry firearms $20 5 $20
Rhode Island License to carry a concealable weapon $40 4 $50
South Carolina Concealed weapon permit $50 5 $50
South Dakota Concealed Pistol Permit $10 or $70 Gold card and $100 enhanced 5 $10
Tennessee Handgun carry permit $100 or Lifetime $300 8 $62
Texas License to carry a handgun $40 5 $40
Utah Concealed Firearm Permit $39 5 $39
Vermont NO PERMITS REQUIRED/has never issued permits N/A N/A 0
Virginia Concealed handgun permit $50.00 5 $50
Washington Concealed pistol license $36 5 $36
West Virginia Constitutional carry/Concealed pistol & revolver license available for reciprocity $75 plus additional fee of $25 if approved 5 $100
Wisconsin Concealed weapon license $40 5 $40
Wyoming Constitutional carry/Concealed firearm permits available for reciprocity $64 5 $64