Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Total for 30 of 50 states = 5,072,558.

A person that posts on the Gungeon has spent a considerable amount of time to TRY to get a reasonable estimate of the number of concealed carry licenses/permits that are currently in use in the country.
He's been able to get statewide data on 30 states. Some by information on the internet and others by emails requesting the stats.
Below is his list. His number for Ohio is low by about 5,600 since the new state stats just came out.

I don't know if data are available for the other states or not.
Note: I was able to follow some of his links and I found that some of the state totals are several years old.

I'm surprised to see Florida with such high numbers I wouldn't have guessed that.

Jakeiscrazy wrote:I'm surprised to see Florida with such high numbers I wouldn't have guessed that.

I'm even more surprised by PA! Must be those folks in the western part still clinging to their guns and Bibles!

i wonder what kind of percentage that # is of all generally chp-eligible folks. anyone have a rough guess?

wpoppert wrote: I'm even more surprised by PA! Must be those folks in the western part still clinging to their guns and Bibles!

I suspect it has to do with PA's low permit fee and their previously offering non-resident permits by mail. Although PA no longer offers non-resident permits by mail, the fee for a five-year permit is only $20 and there are no training requirements.

There is surely some double-counting in these numbers. For example, I hold permits from four states. So 5 million permits isn't likely to mean 5 million different people.

Non-resident Florida permits are popular. I'm surprised Utah doesn't have a high number. Their non resident permits are popular too.

I've done some research on the Gungeon post.
The OP seems to have done his best to ONLY report resident licenses of states that issue to non-residents.

I've verified this to be true for Virginia, Utah, and Florida.

The Ohio total is low.
I've just updated my Excel workbook of Ohio CHL stats with 2011 2nd quarter numbers. As of June 30, 2011 Ohio had 242,086 licenses in effect. (My best guess.)

tursiops wrote:There is surely some double-counting in these numbers. For example, I hold permits from four states. So 5 million permits isn't likely to mean 5 million different people.

Good point! But that raises a question for me: Is there any advantage to getting a non-resident permit in a state that already has reciprocity with VA?

wpoppert wrote:

tursiops wrote:There is surely some double-counting in these numbers. For example, I hold permits from four states. So 5 million permits isn't likely to mean 5 million different people.

Good point! But that raises a question for me: Is there any advantage to getting a non-resident permit in a state that already has reciprocity with VA?

Yes, because that state may have reciprocity with states that VA does not.

tursiops wrote:

wpoppert wrote:

tursiops wrote:There is surely some double-counting in these numbers. For example, I hold permits from four states. So 5 million permits isn't likely to mean 5 million different people.

Good point! But that raises a question for me: Is there any advantage to getting a non-resident permit in a state that already has reciprocity with VA?

Yes, because that state may have reciprocity with states that VA does not.

Thanks!!