Concealed Carry is on the rise

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - It's a sign and sound of the times. Chances are someone you know is packing heat. "Most people are scared of something, they hear a bump in the night, they read a crime report, the Lancaster incident."

It might sound cliche, but the reality for many people is that police just can't be everywhere at once. That leads many to places like Carolina Sporting Arms where Donald Ingram is noticing a trend in business.

"Most people don't just want to buy a gun, they want to have it at their disposal; either hidden in their car or on their person when they go shopping somewhere," Ingram said.

To meet that need, Ingram's store offers classes to obtain concealed carry permits. It's a class that is filling up everyday. Numbers obtained from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department certainly point to that.

IN fiscal year 2011, the department issued 14,000 gun permits, of which 3,800 were for conceal carry permits. In fiscal year 2012, which extends through the end of June, officials have so far issued 6,000 gun permits. They have granted 2,200 permits for people to carry a concealed weapon.

"Over the last 2 or 3 years, we saw a shift from what was traditionally for us a hunting crowd; 1/3 of your business being handguns to now, it's probably inverted to 2/3 or 3/4 are personal protection and conceal carry," Ingram said.

The other change he's seen is that many of the guns he sells are being held inside women's purses. "I travel for work all the time," Sarah Wolfe said, "When I started traveling, my husband encouraged me to take the class."

"There are more women now than there was a couple years ago, they seem to be the dominant force in the industry," Ingram said.

Manufacturers have even fit their designs to match the trend: making guns that are small and stylish, promoting the notion that safety is now covered by caliber.

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