337,000 Washingtonians licensed to carry concealed handguns ... [View All]

NEWS FLASH: More than 337K Washingtonians licensed to carry
May 31st, 2011 9:12 am PT

More than 337,000 Washington residents are licensed to carry concealed handguns today, according to data from the state Department of Licensing’s Business and Professional Division.

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Why are so many Washingtonians carrying firearms? According to Sgt. John Urquhart with the King County Sheriff’s Department, there does not seem to be any urgency about highly-publicized budget cuts, at least in his jurisdiction, so that probably isn’t it. (The good news in unincorporated King County is that with Kirkland’s annexation of three big neighborhoods at midnight tonight, the deputies assigned to those areas are being reassigned to patrol other parts of unincorporated King County. “That’s a good thing,” he noted.)

It may just be that increasing numbers of private citizens have realized that police and sheriffs deputies are rarely on the scene to actually interrupt a crime or prevent one altogether, and that – depending upon where in the state one lives – they may not be able to respond immediately, so help is not going to arrive in the proverbial nick of time.

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Washington has what many in the firearms community call one of the most sensible concealed carry statutes in the nation. It is a “shall issue” law that allows very little discretion on the part of local police officials in the issuance of a CPL. One does not jump through lots of hoops designed to discourage applicants.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/news-flash-more-than-335k-washingtonians-licensed-to-carry