Houston's Packing Heat According to State Data (Texas)

[shadowrider]

HOUSTON - Fifteen years after concealed handguns were legalized in Texas, more people are packing heat around Houston than anywhere else in the state.

In some areas, one out of every 55 residents is licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

Jim Pruett’s holy grail is a Houston that’s armed to the teeth.

In his decade of doing business at Pruett’s Guns & Ammo, he has assisted thousands of people in obtaining their concealed handgun license (or CHL).

Of the top 15 Texas zip codes with the most CHLs, 13 are our neighbors.

Look at those 13 zip codes on a map and you’ll see they surround Houston on three sides.

To Pruett, this is no accident. There are more concealed handguns, he says, where there are fewer patrol officers.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100805-houstons-packing-heat-according-to-state-data

[MicaelS]

1. Not a bit surpised...

As the article says, the area is really spread out.

[spin]

2. The increase in gun sales ...

in the last couple of years might be caused by the economic situation, not by Obama's election. The same is true of the increase in concealed carry permits.

Gun sales shoot up amid America’s fear of rising crime and terrorism
November 16, 2009

Smith & Wesson, the famed American gunmaker once owned by Tomkins, the British conglomerate, expects to nearly double its annual sales in the next three to five years as demand for its firearms soars in the recession. It is not alone.

All over America demand for firearms and ammunition is rising amid concerns that rising unemployment, which passed 10 per cent this month, will lead inexorably to higher rates of crime. Fears of terrorism have also helped to lift demand, as have concerns among gun owners that the Obama Administration may introduce restrictions on gun ownership and impose additional taxes.

Smith & Wesson is expecting sales to rise by 30 per cent to $102 million (£61 million) in the first quarter of the next financial year, after growing by more than 13 per cent this year to $335 million.

At Sturm and Ruger, sales for the third quarter hit $71.2 million, up 70 per cent from the same period last year. At Glock, the leader in law enforcement markets, pistol sales rose by 71 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year for 2010, in comparison with the same period last year.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the FBI carried out more than a million background checks on behalf of gun dealers in September (a check is required with every sale), an increase of 12.4 per cent on the same period in the previous year.

Mike Golden, chief executive at Smith and Wesson, is sceptical about the so-called Obama effect on gun sales, believing that his company’s booming revenues have “nothing to do with the administration” and everything to do with the economy. emphasis added

“People are worried about personal protection with unemployment and crime on the rise,” he said in a presentation to investors, adding that 30 per cent of customers who had bought the company’s guns in the first half of this year were “first-time gun owners”, up from 9 per cent nine a year earlier.

Randy Williams, industry editor at Hoover, the research firm, agreed. “As an example of the personal safety and terrorism aspect, Smith & Wesson’s hunting rifle sales in 2009 dropped about 33 per cent at a time when the company’s other gun sales — revolvers, pistols, Walther imports, and tactical rifles — grew 33 per cent,” he said.emphasis added /i]
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article6917828.ece

[dmallind]

3. And let's see what that does

Houston has a nice comparison with Chicago. Both huge sprawling metropolitan areas immediately next to each other in the population list. Both have pockets of wealth and poverty, and racially diverse populations. Median income is within a couple thousand even.

Houston has some of the most liberal gun laws in the nation and as seen here a large number of CCW (or CHL in texspeak) holders.

Chicago is the poster child for anti-gun "enthusiasts" with the most draconian limits on guns anywhere and no CCW at all beyond a handful of political elites

Murders/100k
H - 13.1
C - 18 (38% higher)

Rapes/100K
H - 33.5
C - 55.3 (65% higher)

Robberies/100K
H - 473.6
C - 587 (24% higher)

Assaults
H - 586.5
C - 600.4 (2.4% higher)


All crimes against people where guns can be used both to aid commission and to defend against it. All of them - every one - higher in the unarmed paradise rather than in the violent "wild west" gun-toting hell-hole.

[GreenStormCloud]

4. This time of year, Houston has lots of HEAT, and HUMIDITY too. N/T