Apparently, the number of people in Florida with CCW permits is 1 in 35; Sebastian thinks that’s cute because PA’s rate is something like 1 in 20. That’s really neat, the little states think they have a lot of people with CCW permits! Indiana’s rate of people with concealed carry permits is 1 out of 15.
That means that when you’re walking around in Indiana, one out of every fifteen people you know has a permit to carry a handgun. The statistics don’t lie; the last year I have full numbers available for (2000), the population of Indiana was about 4 million and there were 300,000 people with handgun permits. Even though our population has grown by almost three million in the last eight years, with the issuing of lifetime carry permits, I’m sure that our percentage is still around the 1/15, and might actually be approaching 1/10.
And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way. One of the best things about living in Indiana is how gun friendly we are as a state. Lifetime carry permits, no waiting periods, no assault weapon bans, full preemption – in terms of gun rights, Indiana is the land flowing with milk and honey.
It makes me awfully proud to be a native. I keep being surprised by the number of people in my office who have carry permits.
In Ohio we are like 1 in 100
If it wasn’t for the verdammt ban on short-barreled shotguns, we’d have the best gun laws this side of VT and AK.
If OH is 1:100, then here in MA it must be 1:148Bazillion…
It would be even nicer if carry permits were only required for concealed carry, and unlicensed open carry were legal.
Funny, in South Dakota it’s 1:9.
It’s a shame I don’t live there anymore. There was guns everywhere and everybody knew it!
Indiana is great for guns. I just got my CCW and im only 19, so a family member “gave” me a gun and I have my dad buy ammo “and give” it to me. I love how I can legally carry my gun but cant own it. But I make up for that with my good sized rifle collection.
As for guns being everywhere, I love target shooting in the backyard and the neighbors not caring because they do it to.
One reason Indiana’s numbers are that high is that you have to get a carry permit to do just about anything outside your home or place of business with a handgun. You can’t even take one to a range in a locked case without one. So everybody who wants to shoot a handgun has to get a carry permit.
I think our reputation as “gun friendly” is somewhat exaggerated, too. For instance, you cant have a gun on “school property,” which seems sensible enough, perhaps. But then “school property” includes churches and licensed day-care centers, because they teach kids things. Furthermore, nobody knows whether a college is a school. And the “property” includes the parking lot (unless you’re just picking up or dropping off a kid without getting out of your car) so you can’t deal with the problem by leaving your gun in your car. There are traps here, and restrictions that are tougher than they look at first. So, we’re better than NY or California, but that’s not saying much.
Ours is something like 1 in 700….. but we don’t need a permit to openly carry, except in Omaha….. and we are a class III friendly state…..