DPS: More than 250,000 Arizonans have concealed weapon permit
Jan 5, 2016, 4:09 PM
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
PHOENIX — More than 250,000 Arizonans have been granted a permit to carry a concealed weapon since 1994, Arizona Department of Public Safety statistics showed.
Although it is legal in Arizona to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, hundreds of thousands of the state’s residents have taken the necessary courses and applied for a permit. DPS keeps a running total of the number of permits issued online.
A vast majority of the permits — 93,214 — were issued in Maricopa County, primarily to white people. The next largest number of permits were issued in Pima County. Both counties are home to more than 1,000,000 people.
The highest number of permits by age were issued to those who were between 60 and 69 years old for both males and females.
DPS only uses five ethnic backgrounds — white, Asian, black, Indian and unknown — in its statistics.
When broken down further, the agency showed Asian women were the largest female minority recipient of permits.
Black men were issued the most when it came to male minorities.
DPS also showed that, of the thousands of permits issued, only 3,600 have been suspended and 1,169 have been revoked. However, the agency said its figures do not reflect those that were suspended then reinstated.
