Concealed Carry Statistics by State
Active concealed carry permit counts by state, with year-over-year change, per-capita rate, and a link to each state's published source. Only 19 states publish a current active-permits total. The other 31 either issue at the county sheriff level with no statewide aggregation, or publish only the annual flow (new permits, renewals, revocations) per their governing statute.
Total active permits
12,038,355
Across 18 reporting states · most recent year 2026
Permitless-carry states
29
No permit required to carry concealed
Shall-issue states
21
Permit required but issued to all qualified applicants
Non-reporting states
32
No central registry or stopped publishing
Permits by state
Click a column header to sortTap any "No state aggregate ⓘ" or "Stopped reporting ⓘ" badge for the specific reason that state's count is blank.
| State ↕ | Regime | Active permits ↕ | Data year ↕ | Per 100 adults ↕ | YoY change ↕ | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Alabama pistol permits are issued by individual county sheriffs under Ala. Code 13A-11-75; ALEA does not publish a statewide aggregate of active permits. Alabama became permitless on Jan 1, 2023 (Act 2022-133), so voluntary permits continue to be issued for reciprocity but no public statewide count exists.
|
— | — | — | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency - Gun Laws |
| Alaska | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Alaska has been permitless since 2003. The Alaska Department of Public Safety continues to issue voluntary concealed handgun permits for reciprocity, but Alaska statute treats permit holder information as non-public and DPS does not publish a statewide active permit count.
|
— | — | — | Alaska Department of Public Safety - Concealed Handgun Permits |
| Arizona | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Arizona has been permitless since 2010. ARS 13-3112(O) requires DPS to report permits requested, issued, and denied annually to the governor and legislature, but as of verification DPS does not publish the resulting report on its public Reports & Publications page and no statewide active-permit total was discoverable through azdps.gov.
|
— | — | — | Arizona Department of Public Safety - Concealed Weapons and Permits |
| Arkansas | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Arkansas State Police administers the Concealed Handgun Carry License program, but does not publish a statewide statistics page or annual report with active license totals. Arkansas became quasi-permitless in 2021 and CHCLs continue to be issued voluntarily for reciprocity.
|
— | — | — | Arkansas Department of Public Safety - Concealed Handgun Carry Licensing |
| California | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
California CCW licenses are issued at the county/municipal level by sheriffs and police chiefs under Penal Code 26150/26155. The California DOJ Bureau of Firearms collects data via the Carry Concealed Weapon License Annual Survey (Form BOF 1027) but does not publish a statewide aggregate report with active license totals.
|
— | — | — | California Department of Justice - Bureau of Firearms |
| Colorado | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Colorado Concealed Handgun Permits are issued by county sheriffs. The CBI compiles an annual 'Concealed Handgun Permits Issued By Colorado Sheriffs' report (most recent: calendar year 2024, published via Colorado State Publications Library) showing 29,495 new and 27,751 renewed permits, but the report does not surface a current statewide count of all active permits (5-year validity makes the active stock the sum of the most recent five years of issuance, which the report does not aggregate).
|
— | — | — | Concealed Handgun Permits Issued By Colorado Sheriffs for 2024 (Report to the Colorado General Assembly) |
| Connecticut | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection's Special Licensing and Firearms Unit issues state pistol permits but does not publish a current public count of active permits. State law treats permit holder identifying information as exempt from disclosure.
|
— | — | — | Connecticut DESPP - State Pistol Permit (Special Licensing and Firearms Unit) |
| Delaware | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Delaware CCDW (Concealed Carry Deadly Weapon) permits are applied for through the Superior Court Prothonotary and reviewed by the Department of Justice; the Delaware State Police does not process or aggregate CCDW issuance. No statewide active-permit count is published.
|
— | — | — | Delaware Department of Justice - Concealed Carry Deadly Weapons (CCDW) |
| Florida | Permitless |
2,317,204
2026
· 12.71/100
|
2026 | 12.71 | — | Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Licensing - Number of Licensees by Type (as of May 31, 2026) |
| Georgia | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Georgia Weapons Carry Licenses are issued by individual probate courts in each county; there is no state agency that aggregates a statewide active-license total. Georgia became permitless on 4/12/2022 (HB 218); WCLs continue to be issued voluntarily.
|
— | — | — | Georgia.gov - Apply for a Firearms License |
| Hawaii | Shall-issue |
2,207
2024
· 0.19/100
|
2024 | 0.19 | — | Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, Crime Prevention & Justice Assistance Division - Licenses To Carry Handguns in Hawai'i, 2024 (REVISED, April 2025) |
| Idaho | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Idaho has been permitless since 2016. Concealed Weapons Licenses (regular and Enhanced) are processed only by individual county sheriffs (Idaho Code 18-3302K). Neither the Idaho Attorney General nor the Idaho Sheriffs' Association publishes a statewide aggregate of active licenses.
|
— | — | — | Idaho Office of Attorney General - Concealed Weapons |
| Illinois | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau administers the Firearm Concealed Carry License (FCCL) program under 430 ILCS 66. Direct Playwright verification (6/7/2026) of the ISP Statistics page and three embedded Tableau dashboards (Statistics, CCL Historical Statistics, Received Application Statistics on public.data.illinois.gov) confirms the public-facing data is flow only — FSB processing times (e.g., Jan 2026 non-fingerprint CCL: 73.14 days; fingerprint CCL: 46.43 days) and CCL applications received per month (e.g., 2015 total 67,576; 2016 total 91,348; 2019 total 112,012). No active/valid/outstanding CCL stock count appears on the public statistics page or in the CCL Historical dashboard.
|
— | — | — | Illinois State Police - Firearms Services Statistics (Tableau dashboards show flow only) |
| Indiana | Permitless |
1,222,461
2024
· 22.90/100
· +41.2%
|
2024 | 22.90 | +41.2% | Indiana State Police, Licenses Issued in 2024 and Total Active Licenses (as of 01/01/2025) |
| Iowa | Permitless |
Stopped reporting
Iowa enacted permitless carry effective July 1, 2021 (HF 756). The Department of Public Safety no longer publishes annual statewide totals for active permits to carry weapons; permits are still issued at the county-sheriff level for reciprocity, but no centralized active-permit count is published.
|
— | — | — | Iowa Department of Public Safety, Weapon Permits page |
| Kansas | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Kansas adopted permitless carry in 2015 but the AG's CCLU continues to issue licenses for reciprocity and publishes annual reports under K.S.A. 75-7c16(b). Direct PDF download and full-text extraction (verified 6/7/2026 via Playwright bypassing the Akamai edge that blocks curl/WebFetch) of the FY2024 Concealed Carry Annual Report confirms the statute mandates reporting of 'concealed carry handgun licenses issued, revoked, suspended and denied during the preceding fiscal year and the reasons for the revocations, suspensions and denials' — flow only. FY24 figures: 4,795 initial licenses + 12,037 renewals issued; 5 denials; 9 suspensions proposed; 81 revocations proposed; 159 voluntary surrenders. The report contains no cumulative or active-license total.
|
— | — | — | Kansas Attorney General, FY2024 Concealed Carry Annual Report (issuance flow only; no active total) |
| Kentucky | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Kentucky adopted permitless carry in 2019; the Kentucky State Police CCDW Section publishes statutory annual statistical reports. Direct PDF download and full-text extraction (verified 6/7/2026) of the 2023 CCDW Annual Report (latest available; KSP CCDW Annual Stats Reports index lists no 2024 report as of 6/7/2026) confirms KRS 237.110 mandates reporting of 'licenses issued, revoked, suspended, and denied since the previous report.' Report shows 2023 issuance: 7,742 original CCDW + 57,737 renewals; 'Since Inception (1996)' cumulative: 563,590 CCDW issued + 675,529 renewals + 9,788 revoked + 12,971 denied. KSP does not publish a 'currently valid' total.
|
2023 | — | — | Kentucky State Police, Carrying Concealed Deadly Weapons Annual Report 2023 (issuance flow only; no active total) |
| Louisiana | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Louisiana adopted permitless carry effective July 4, 2024 (Act 1 / SB 1, signed March 5, 2024). The LSP Concealed Handgun Permit Unit publishes annual legislative reports per L.R.S. 40:1379.3(R)(2). Direct PDF download and full-text extraction (verified 6/7/2026) of the 2024 CHP Annual Legislative Report confirms the statute mandates reporting of permits issued, denied, revoked, or suspended categorized by age/sex/race/zip code — annual flow only. 2024 issuance: 3,489 original 5-year + 1,305 lifetime + 4,423 renewals = 9,217 total issued; 415 denied; 160 revoked; 356 suspended. LSP does not publish a statewide currently-valid total.
|
2024 | — | — | Louisiana State Police, Concealed Handgun Permit Unit Annual Legislative Report 2024 (issuance flow only; no active total) |
| Maine | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Maine adopted permitless carry in October 2015 (LD 652 / Public Law 2015, Chapter 327); permits remain optional and are issued by the Maine State Police Weapons and Professional Licensing division for approximately 360 municipalities plus all non-residents, while the remaining municipalities issue their own permits with no statewide aggregation. The State Police's published 'Active Permits/Licenses' PDFs (executed June 1, 2026) list approximately 9,046 resident permits and 4,932 non-resident permits issued by the State Police, but this is not a complete statewide total because municipality-issued permits are not consolidated.
|
— | — | — | Maine State Police, Weapons and Professional Licensing — Active Resident Concealed Handgun Permits list (6/1/2026) |
| Maryland | Shall-issue |
200,540
2025
· 4.13/100
|
2025 | 4.13 | — | Maryland State Police (via Baltimore Banner PIA request) |
| Massachusetts | Shall-issue |
497,237
2022
· 8.67/100
|
2022 | 8.67 | — | Massachusetts EOPSS Firearms Records Bureau, Active Firearms Licenses dataset |
| Michigan | Shall-issue |
845,000
2026
· 10.52/100
|
2026 | 10.52 | — | Michigan State Police, Concealed Pistol Licensing Annual Report Oct 1 2024 – Sep 30 2025 (active total from MSP CPL database) |
| Minnesota | Shall-issue |
401,551
2024
· 8.95/100
· +0.6%
|
2024 | 8.95 | +0.6% | Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, 2024 Permit to Carry Report |
| Mississippi | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Mississippi adopted permitless carry in 2016 (Standard Firearm Permit and Enhanced Firearm Permit remain optional and are administered by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Firearm Permit Division). MDPS does not publish an annual statewide active-permit report.
|
— | — | — | Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Firearm Permit Division |
| Missouri | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Missouri adopted permitless carry effective January 1, 2017 (SB 656). Concealed Carry Permits remain available and are issued by county sheriffs; there is no statewide aggregation by the Missouri Department of Public Safety or Attorney General. The Missouri Sheriffs' Association does not publish a statewide annual active-permit total.
|
— | — | — | Missouri Attorney General, Concealed Carry Reciprocity page |
| Montana | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Permitless carry since Feb 18, 2021 (HB 102). Concealed Weapon Permits are issued by county sheriffs. Montana statute requires sheriffs to send copies to the Department of Justice central repository, but the Montana DOJ does not publish a statewide active-permit total.
|
— | — | — | Montana Department of Justice — Concealed Weapons |
| Nebraska | Permitless |
87,470
2024
· 5.79/100
· -3.1%
|
2024 | 5.79 | -3.1% | Nebraska State Patrol — CHP Current Statistics |
| Nevada | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
CCW permits are issued by individual county sheriffs (LVMPD for Clark County, WCSO for Washoe County, and so on). The Nevada Department of Public Safety publishes a reciprocity list but does not aggregate a statewide active-permit total.
|
— | — | — | Nevada DPS Records, Communications and Compliance Division — CCW Permit |
| New Hampshire | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Permitless carry since Feb 22, 2017 (RSA 159:6). Resident licenses are still issued locally by chiefs of police or selectmen; non-resident licenses are issued by the NH State Police Permits & Licensing Unit. Neither the State Police nor the Department of Safety publishes a statewide active-permit count.
|
— | — | — | New Hampshire State Police — Pistol and Revolver Licensing |
| New Jersey | Shall-issue |
68,377
2026
· 0.94/100
|
2026 | 0.94 | — | NJ Office of the Attorney General / NJ NICS — Permit to Carry Dashboard |
| New Mexico | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
The New Mexico Department of Public Safety administers CHL but publishes only periodic application-processing figures (e.g., 9,408 applications processed in FY2024 per a 2026 LFC bill analysis), not a statewide cumulative active-permit total.
|
— | — | — | New Mexico Department of Public Safety — Concealed Carry Licenses |
| New York | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Pistol licenses are issued by the local licensing officer (typically a county sheriff, county judge, or NYPD in NYC). The New York State Police maintain a pistol permit database for recertification, but neither State Police nor DCJS publishes a current statewide active-permit total.
|
— | — | — | New York State Police — Firearms |
| North Carolina | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Concealed handgun permits are issued by county sheriffs under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-415.10 et seq. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) compiles county-level data but does not publish a current statewide active-permit total at a stable URL accessible to this verification pass.
|
— | — | — | North Carolina Department of Justice — Concealed Handguns Reciprocity |
| North Dakota | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Permitless carry for residents since Aug 1, 2017. The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (under the Attorney General) publishes counts of licenses ISSUED per year (~4,000 in 2024 down from ~13,000 in 2016) on its Concealed Weapon Licenses program page, but does not publish a cumulative active-license total. The AG's CWL page (verified 6/7/2026) shows no statistics summary; secondary news sources (Grand Forks Herald 2025) cite issuance-only counts. The BCI registry exists but is non-public under N.D.C.C. § 62.1-04-03.
|
— | — | — | North Dakota Attorney General — Concealed Weapon Licenses |
| Ohio | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Permitless carry since June 13, 2022 (S.B. 215). The Ohio Attorney General publishes a statutorily required annual Concealed Carry Report. Direct verification (6/7/2026) of the AG's 2024 Concealed Carry Report news release and the parallel 2025 report confirms the AG only publishes annual issuance flow: 73,552 licenses issued in 2024 (14,440 new + 59,112 renewals), 77,159 issued in 2025. The report contains no cumulative active-license total. Sheriffs issue and track CHLs at the county level; the AG aggregates issuance counts only.
|
— | — | — | Ohio Attorney General — 2024 Concealed Carry Report (issuance flow only; no active total) |
| Oklahoma | Permitless |
No state aggregate
Permitless carry since Nov 1, 2019. OSBI publishes the Self-Defense Act Annual Statistical Report under 21 O.S. § 1290.16. Direct PDF download and full-text extraction (verified 6/7/2026) of the 2024 SDA Annual Report confirms the statute mandates 'data on the numbers of handgun licenses approved and issued and the numbers of licenses suspended, revoked or denied' by category — annual flow only. 2024 statewide totals: 17,156 applications / 16,690 approved / 582 denied / 201 revoked / 229 suspended. The report contains no cumulative or year-end active-license total.
|
— | — | — | Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation — 2024 SDA Annual Report (issuance flow only; no active total) |
| Oregon | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Concealed Handgun Licenses are issued by Oregon's 36 county sheriffs. Under ORS 166.297 sheriffs report revocations to Oregon State Police, and OSP submits a biennial compilation to the Legislative Assembly. OSP does not publish a current statewide active-license total at a stable URL. The most recent OSP-attributed total publicly cited is 276,327 as of May 2019, which is too stale to record as current.
|
— | — | — | Oregon State Police |
| Pennsylvania | Shall-issue |
1,637,381
2026
· 15.58/100
|
2026 | 15.58 | — | Pennsylvania State Police — Carrying Firearms in Pennsylvania |
| Rhode Island | Shall-issue |
1,813
2024
· 0.21/100
|
2024 | 0.21 | — | Crime Prevention Research Center, Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2024 |
| South Carolina | Permitless |
517,709
2024
· 11.78/100
|
2024 | 11.78 | — | South Carolina Law Enforcement Division — Concealed Weapons Permit Statistics |
| South Dakota | Permitless |
53,509
2024
· 7.43/100
|
2024 | 7.43 | — | South Dakota Secretary of State — Pistol Permit Statistics |
| Tennessee | Permitless |
672,790
2026
· 11.91/100
· -7.1%
|
2026 | 11.91 | -7.1% | Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security — Current Valid Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit Holders by County (6/01/2026) |
| Texas | Permitless |
1,416,121
2025
· 6.03/100
· -8.0%
|
2025 | 6.03 | -8.0% | Texas DPS Active License/Certified Instructor Counts (As of December 31, 2025) |
| Utah | Permitless |
681,181
2024
· 26.89/100
|
2024 | 26.89 | — | Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification — Firearm Transfer / Concealed Firearm Permit Statistics |
| Vermont | Permitless |
No permit system
Vermont has never required a permit to carry a concealed handgun. The Vermont Constitution of 1777 codified the right to bear arms, and the Vermont Supreme Court reaffirmed permitless carry in State v. Rosenthal (1903). There is no Vermont concealed carry permit, no issuing authority, and no application process — therefore no active-permit count exists or can exist.
|
— | — | — | Handgunlaw.us Vermont state summary (citing Vt. Const. Ch. I Art. 16 and State v. Rosenthal, 75 Vt. 295 (1903)) |
| Virginia | Shall-issue |
686,994
2024
· 9.96/100
· +1.1%
|
2024 | 9.96 | +1.1% | Virginia State Police — 2024 Facts and Figures Annual Report |
| Washington | Shall-issue |
700,623
2024
· 11.21/100
· +1.1%
|
2024 | 11.21 | +1.1% | Washington Department of Licensing — Statistics At-A-Glance Calendar Year 2024 |
| West Virginia | Permitless |
No state aggregate
West Virginia became permitless-carry on May 24, 2016 (SB 347). Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHLs) and Provisional CHLs (ages 18-20) are issued by the county sheriff of the applicant's county of residence; the West Virginia State Police maintains a registry of issued licenses under § 61-7-4(j) but does not publish an aggregated annual statewide active-permit count on the AG's or WVSP's public website. The Attorney General's 'On The Mark' CHL guide does not contain issuance statistics.
|
— | — | — | West Virginia Attorney General — On The Mark: A Guide to Concealed Handgun Laws in West Virginia |
| Wisconsin | Shall-issue |
No state aggregate
Wisconsin DOJ publishes an annual CCW Statistical Report under Wis. Stat. § 175.60(19). Direct Playwright verification (6/7/2026) of the DOJ CCW Annual Reports index page (wisdoj.gov/Pages/PublicSafety/concealed-carry-weapon-annual-reports.aspx) and PDF download + full-text extraction of the most recent 2025 report (submitted January 2026, latest in series) confirms the statute mandates reporting of 'licenses applied for, issued, denied, suspended, and revoked' during the previous calendar year — not cumulative active stock. 2025 figures: 94,645 licenses approved/issued (103,678 applications received, 33,048 new + 67,315 renewal accepted); 2,158 new + 245 renewal denials; 442 suspensions. 2024 figures: 67,009 issued. Neither report aggregates a year-end outstanding-license total. Secondary sources cite '>460,000 valid CCW licenses' but no DOJ publication contains that figure.
|
2024 | — | — | Wisconsin Department of Justice — 2025 Annual CCW Statistical Report (most recent in series; does not aggregate active-license total) |
| Wyoming | Permitless |
30,000
2024
· 6.52/100
|
2024 | 6.52 | — | Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation — Concealed Firearm Permits Program |
How these numbers are sourced (and why many states are blank)
Concealed carry is administered by the states; there is no federal permit database. For each state we use, in order of preference: the issuing agency's own publication (state police, attorney general, or department of public safety), the legislature's required annual report, or the Crime Prevention Research Center as a secondary source when no primary one exists. Population denominators come from the Census Bureau's 18+ estimate.
31 states do not publish a current active-permits total. They fall into three categories:
- Flow-only reporting. State statutes require the agency to report only annual issuance, renewals, revocations, suspensions, and denials, not the cumulative outstanding stock. Wisconsin (Wis. Stat. § 175.60(19)), Oklahoma (21 O.S. § 1290.16), Louisiana (La. R.S. 40:1379.3(R)(2)), Kentucky (KRS 237.110), and Kansas (K.S.A. 75-7c16(b)) are examples.
- Sheriff-issued, no state aggregate. Permits are issued by county sheriffs and never consolidated upward. California, North Carolina, Oregon, Colorado, and Nevada operate this way.
- Permitless with no central registry. Most permitless states still issue voluntary permits for interstate reciprocity, but treat permit-holder data as exempt from disclosure. A few stopped publishing entirely after going permitless.
For states that stopped publishing after going permitless, the count wouldn't be meaningful anyway. Once a permit isn't required, the permit count stops tracking who actually carries.
Legal disclaimer — please read
This page is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. We are not attorneys and nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Permit statistics, like the underlying laws, change over time.
- Verify any number directly with the linked official source before relying on it for reporting or research.
- Reporting cadence varies by state — some publish monthly, some annually, some not at all.
- "Active permits" definitions differ across states; some include resident-only, some include non-resident, some count only currently-valid permits.
The controlling document is each state agency's own published figure, not this page. We make no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of this information.