After the 2016 elections, many people predicted that concealed carry permits would level off or even decrease. However, the Crime Prevention Research Center’s latest report shows the opposite.

In fact, the number of concealed carry permits soared to more than 17.25 million in 2018. This is a 273-percent increase since 2007.

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The report states that 7.14 percent of American adults have a carry permit. However, this number doesn’t include states that don’t require a permit to carry — Constitutional Carry.

More so, the study shows that between 2012 and 2108 permits for women grew 111 percent faster than men and 20 percent faster for blacks than whites. Asians obtained permits 29 percent faster than whites. The numbers on women are no surprise. Concealed carry for women is a growing market.

Concealed Carry Permits Report Findings

• Last year, despite the common perception that growth in the number of permit holders would stop after the 2016 election, the number of permits grew by about 890,000.
• Outside the restrictive states of California and New York, about 8.63% of the adult population has a permit.
• In fifteen states, more than 10% of adults have permits, up from just eleven last year.
• Alabama has the highest rate — 22.1%. Indiana is second with 17.9%, and South Dakota is a close third with 17.2%.
• Four states now have over 1 million permit holders: Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
• Another 14 states have adopted constitutional carry in all or almost all of their state, meaning that a permit is no longer required. However, because of these constitutional carry states, the nationwide growth in permits does not paint a full picture of the overall increase in concealed carry.
• Permits continued to grow much faster for women and minorities. Between 2012 and 2018, the percent of women with permits grew 111% faster for women and the percent of blacks with permits grew 20% faster than for whites. Permits for Asians grew 29% faster than for whites.
• Concealed handgun permit holders are extremely law-abiding. In Florida and Texas, permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at one-sixth of the rate at which police officers are convicted.

Bullet points pulled from CPRC press release.