Arizona concealed carry permit holder Kellie Mejdrich (courtesy tusconsentinel.com)

“These numbers reflect all transactions and the current status of permits, since the inception of the CCW program in Arizona on September 8, 1994,” azdps.gov‘s website informs above concealed carry stats revealed today. “Please note, these numbers do not reflect changes, such as a permit that was suspended and later reinstated.” Regardless, we’re looking at 212k permits in a state with some six million legal residents. Not a bad tally, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the total population. Then again, we are talking about a state bordering on Mexico, where drug cartel violence spills over like salsa out of a broken, overstuffed taco shell. And a state with Constitutional Carry. Make the jump for the demographic breakdown for the Copper State’s concealed carriers . . . [h/t AL]

Current Arizona Statistics

Statistics Last Updated: 2/2/2014 7:06:56 AM

Active      Suspended    Revoked

Permits        212086      3079           1155

Permits          21-29    30-39   40-49   50-59    60-69     70-79        80+

Female         3109    6250    8409   12531   11822    4268        451

Asian            114        232     236     161        102      18               4

Black             55          173     183     181         94       27             1

Indian            42           85     102     118          95      38             9

Unknown            0          0         0        0             2       0              0

White           2898     5760    7888   12071    11529    4185     437

 

Permits          21-29     30-39   40-49     50-59      60-69      70-79         80+

Male          12623     25445   30355     36633     41697     24040       4712

Asian            395          926    1051          677         358        132            22

Black            367          921    1091         885          630        257           32

Indian           166          243     278         318          302         175           49

Unknown            0            0        0              0             0             0             0

White          11695    23355    27935     34753     40407     23476       4609

County:          Permits

Apache             1010

Cochise            6945

Coconino           3310

Gila               2273

Graham              696

Greenlee            204

Maricopa          90951

Mohave            10300

Navajo             3133

Pima              26372

Pinal              8986

Santa Cruz          707

Yavapai           10594

Yuma               3955

La Paz              655

45 COMMENTS

  1. As I understand it Arizona is constitutional carry. The only reason to get a ccw there is for the right to carry in other states. People who are aware of their closeness to the mexican border are no doubt already tooled up.

    There’re 8 million gun owners in Ca. Only 6 million total residents in AZ.

    • The reasons I got my CCW was for reciprocity and because in AZ if you have a CCW and purchase a firearm from a dealer you just need to fill out the 4473 and the FFL just files it in their books without calling in the NICS check. Sadly or happily depending on if you ask my wife or myself, I buy enough guns that the shorter amount of time I spend waiting on the govt the better.

    • Constitutional Carry is only a few years old there.
      I had my permit before that, and kept it when I moved because of the great reciprocity. Speaking of which…they don’t mention how many of us non-resident holders there are.

  2. This explains why our elected representatives DO NOT CARE about interfering with our 2A. Mag limits, bullet buttons, safety list…3.5 % CCW is not enough to unhinge their thinking.

    Move this to 20% and legislators will have our undivided attention…

    • Move this to 20% and we will have our legislators undivided attention.

      Was that what you meant?

      Actually, in AZ, I’d bet that at least 20% of the populace carries at some time.

        • While some individual cops and jurisdictions may disagree with the legality of it, guns in cars without CCWs (prior to the Constitutional law) were legal..as was open-carry in AZ.
          Lived in AZ for most of the two decades or so.
          The stats..;and this comes from police and fire(EMTs responding to accidents) is that AT LEAST 1/3 of cars in AZ have a LEAGALLY-owned and stored gun in them.
          Not locked, unloaded in an ‘approved’ box.
          IN THE CAR LEGALLY.
          I’ve got that from traffic-school Instructors, cops, and EMTs.
          When I Ieft in 2011, that was the ‘official’ stat. that PDs and FDs went by.
          Never had a dude in a car pull a gun on me…in 20 years there.
          Never had (one of only half a dozen I ever saw in 20 years) legal, open-carry people pull a gun on me.
          The only people who ever assaulted me with firearms were people who didn’t have a legal right to possess them.
          Either too young or ex/current-criminals.
          And at least two of the times I had an encounter with some with a gun? I can’t PROVE but I learned later the gun probably came from outside the US.

  3. Yes, but, isn’t Arizona a constitutional carry state now? I.E. No need for permit to carry concealed?

    • Yes, yes it is 🙂 Once we eliminate Victim Rich School Zones at the state level I think we’ll be pretty perfect for gun rights. Now if only we can reduce government involvement in other areas.

  4. More states need to start adopting the policy of Constitutional Carry. Colorado may be up next. Fingers crossed.

  5. In Arizona, you need a carry license to carry a firearm into a restaurant that serves alcohol. Also, the firearm must be concealed in such an establishment (thanks again NRA).

  6. that figure DOES NOT depict the number of people here carrying firearms. I don’t know anyone with a permit. it’s pointless. the constitution is Arizona’s permit.

    • I also know more people that carry without a permit than with a permit. Also I know several former permit holders that never renewed after AZ went Constitutional Carry.

      • I just don’t see the merit of having a permit here. I’ve bought, sold, and traded more guns on backpage than I can possibly remember and never once had anyone ask for a CCW. I’m not a criminal, and if I got a bad vibe from someone I wouldn’t arm them for any price. as for buying a gun new, it’s never taken more than 15-20mins to do a BG check. as for encounters with law enforcement (occasional moving violation), they’ve always seemed happy that I’m armed and always want to talk about guns. never a mention of CCW. so if everything is fine and dandy why bother getting a permit for something I’m already free to do.

  7. So rough math it is a 0.019 percent suspension or revocation rate. hmmmm wish the other citizens were so law abiding.. Just sayin…

  8. Feels good to be in Arizona. I acquired my CCW shortly before the state became Constitutional carry, primarily so that I could remain a ‘law-abiding gun owner’ while dining in establishments that serve alcohol.

    It is pretty noticeable the difference being in the Phoenix area versus one of the more rural and smaller towns. I rarely open carry in the Phoenix area, and on the few occasions that I have, I’ve been met with strange looks at a minimum to people talking smack about me literally behind my back while in line at the local fast food eatery. (This guy didn’t know I could hear him, and then after placing my order and walking away from the counter I stood about 10 feet behind him while waiting for my food, he finishes his smack talking to the people next to him and turns around to see that I was much closer than he assumed I was. Gave him the -_- look. He turned red and shut up). Phoenix has too many suburbanites to openly carry (if thats your thing) without causing even a minimal amount of fuss.

    Mind you, when you go up to Payson, for example, you’ll see plenty of people openly carrying in all manner of public places, and no one bats an eye at it.

    • I open carry all the time here in Phoenix. Never really ran into any trouble with anybody at all.

      Then again I guess all those suburbanites might be thrown off because I’m young and fit in with them and all that crap. Who knows.

  9. Because AZ is a Constitutional Carry State I believe these numbers are soft. I think adding 20% (or more) to these stats would be closer to reality. I know many people that carry without a permit, concealed or open.

    Gotta love AZ

  10. Checking the demographics, it seems like there are a lot of OSWGs packing.

    That’s “Old Sunburned White Guys.” Hey, it’s Arizona, where your SPF 30 is just as important as your S&W 40.

  11. If I’m reading the stats correctly, it appears that 5K+ Arizonans over 80 are permitted! That rocks IMHO!

  12. First of all, Arizona DPS does not distinguish between residents and non-residents. We don’t care where you live. So some number of those folks are not actually Arizonans.

    We have only had constitutional carry for two years, permits are good for 5, so I suspect that some number will roll off as permits expire. However, it is very convenient to be able to skip the NICS check.

    When we adopted constitutional carry we also greatly expanded the available options for providing “proof of training” to get the CCW. The big one is that anyone who is “other than dishonorably” discarded from the military, or active duty military, automatically meets the training requirements. So, for a copy of your DD-214 or proof of active duty status (plus the ever present government fee) anyone in the .mil or ex-mil can get one of our cards, which is good in ~30 states.

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  14. Umm, the photo of the lovely lady in the post links back to a newspaper article, where I’m assuming she is the author and she seems to be anti-ccw and anti-gun.

    • Well, one thing is for sure… She’s much less likely to be a rape victim or victim of violent crime, regardless of her personal tilt, as long as she’s able to exercise her legal RTKBA

  15. No drinking while carrying? So you go into an establishment that serves alcohol and you can’t have any if you are carrying? I’m assuming you mean a bit to much to drink.

  16. AZ,ID,NH there are more well equipped people than California,they might have a lot of tek9’s and mac 90’s and cobra 25’s, and that’s cute, just like your 15 round capacity magazine’s. Oh I’m sure your 15 million populace has the easy suppressor stamp too, your Hollywood and that’s fine everyone likes movies, but the 6 million in this state has 40 million firearms!I remember a movie called tombstone, and home grow videos from arcada!! AND FUCK ALL YOU ASSGOLES WE ARE ALL AMERICANS, WHEN WAS THAT LOST?? Its sad

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