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Tex1961 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:28 pm I speak to a pretty fair amount of people on a regular basis. I’ve only met 1 person who said he has carried a few times. Everyone else has said that they either didn’t know it was legal now and many were afraid because they didn’t know the laws and didn’t want to get in trouble. I’ve had quite a few who admitted that they wanted to but don’t have enough experience and don’t feel safe.

Paladin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:12 pm

The Annoyed Man wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 4:12 pm

Paladin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 3:49 pm

Soccerdad1995 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 3:35 pm

Paladin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 2:09 pm Good question.

It's hard to estimate. Some CC'ers might be individuals who had let their LTC expire or were unwilling or unable to pay the fee and do the paperwork.

On the other side, not everyone who has an LTC actually carries.

At it's peak, around one-third of the population of New Hampshire had a license to carry (before they went to constitutional carry), so I believe the absolute number of individuals who constitutional carry at least occasionally will be significantly larger than the number of Texan's who have a current LTC (~5% of the population).

It is my hope that those who constitutional carry recognize the value of training and seek out professional instruction.

Does 1/3 of the population of Texas own a gun? It's higher than that in rural areas, but way lower in the big cities.

According to World Population Review, Texas is at 45.7%.

According to the Pew Research Center, the southern United States has the highest amount of gun owners, with about 36% of residents living in this region owning a gun. The Midwest and West each have gun ownership levels that exceed 30%, while the Northeast has the lowest number of gun owners at about 16%. Most guns in the United States are owned by rural households, while more men own guns than women.

According to those numbers, only 8.8% of Texas gun owners have an LTC.

I HOPE it’s 45.7% … because the chart says it’s 0.457%.

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keep reading... it's listed below. Somebody goofed on the chart

Just about everybody I know owns a firearm. Including my Vietnamese Doctor and at least three so far of his medical assistants. My Korean Dentist owns a gun, 9mm. He asked me if I would let him know when I saw ammo on sale anywhere. The reason I bring them up is none of them were born in this country but all became citizens through the legal processes required. Do any of them carry, I dunno, never asked them. All know I carry, because they have seen it during office visits and didn't even flinch when they saw it. Weird how folks from countries that have experienced oppression appreciate the right to keep and bare arms more than many Americans. Seeing my firearm during Dr and Dentist visits was what brought the topic up with them. They all went into what weapons they preferred. Out of all the people I know who own firearms, almost all carry in their cars, and leave them hidden there, and none carry on their bodies. Including my son out in Houston. Drives me crazy. He has a CHL. I am the only one out of the 20 or so very close friends and family I have that is always carrying. It is so ridiculous hat if we are walking from a parking area through darkened streets to a restaurant, I can't count the number of times they have looked at me and said, "are you carrying", to feel safer.

It would not surprise me one bit to hear that 25% of the vehicles on the road have a firearm on board. But I just believe from my own experiences that most folks simply don't think about the need for a firearm on their person. It is strange to me.

The Annoyed Man wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:13 pm I probably fingerprinted 3 or 4 people today for their LTC, and my colleague did about the same. This is pretty normal these days for us, although it would have been double that before Constitutional Carry passed. But people are still getting licenses. I also regularly fingerprint people who already have their licenses, and none so far have been open carrying. I assume that many are carrying concealed. Actually, other than LEOs, I think I’ve only ever seen one customer open carrying, and he was there to be fingerprinted for his LTC, which he hadn’t gotten yet.

I know that’s anecdotal evidence, so take it however you want. But in my experience, most people who carry—licensed or not—prefer to conceal. I don’t have a dog in the fight. I’m for both Constitutional and open carry, but even though I will on occasion open carry, I personally prefer to conceal most of the time. I don’t much care what others do. Virtually all of the other employees in the store where I work open carry their weapons. I have no idea if they have LTCs or not, although I suspect they do.

Maybe anecdotal but has there been an increase in sales of concealed carry or open carry holsters? I still rarely if ever see anyone open carrying. To be honest, I am not sure I would notice anyway. I pay attention to actions people are taking but rarely size them up by wardrobe.I have yet to open carry. Just a preference, I have no issue with those that do.

carlson1 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:32 pm My thoughts are those who were going to carry already had a LTC. I am like you one in a thousand. Those who were serious about carrying I believe went out the day they were legally able and to the LTC class.

I am keeping my LTC just for the reciprocity sake because of the traveling we do. Just in the month of November every year we drive through seven States. It is nice to know I am legal.

I allowed mine to expire. Not sure about that decision any more.

I was thinking the numbers are likely not very high. I use to be surprised by the amount of folks who had a LTC and did not carry all the time. I think the number is probably less than 1 in a thousand. I am not talking about folks who carry a gun in their vehicle. I think that number is likely higher. Please say why you think it is higher or lower than 1 in a thousand.