By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Twenty percent of likely voters hold a permit/license to carry a concealed sidearm, more than double the rate of adults overall (8%), according to a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center.
Another revelation in the CPRC report is that “people in the 29 constitutional-carry states carry concealed handguns more frequently (34.2%) than people in 21 right-to-carry states (25.98%).”
The CPRC, founded by Dr. John Lott, monitors a wide range of firearms data. Late last year, the CPRC reported the number of licensed concealed carriers had declined for the third consecutive year, to an estimated 20.88 million. However, the CPRC explained, “A major factor behind this ongoing decrease is the widespread adoption of Constitutional Carry laws.”
“Interestingly,” the CPRC observed, “people in Constitutional Carry states carry handguns at much higher rates than those in pure Right-to-Carry states (34.19% versus 25.98%). In Constitutional Carry states, the share of likely voters who carry exceeds the share with permits by about 13 percentage points. In the other pure Right-to-Carry states, the share who carry exceeds the share with permits by about six percentage points. So Constitutional Carry laws result in about seven percentage points more people carrying than have a permit.”
Long story short, any notion that the number of armed private citizens is diminishing may be wishful thinking. But according to the report, there are some interesting factors.
“Blacks,” according to CPRC data, “account for 11.0% of likely voters, but they represent 15.9% of those who carry all or most of the time. Hispanics also carry at disproportionately high rates, making up 18.8% of those who carry all or most of the time despite accounting for only 11.0% of likely voters. By contrast, whites and Asians carry at rates below their shares of likely voters. Whites make up 72.0% of likely voters but only 62.6% of those who carry all or most of the time, while Asians account for 4.0% of likely voters but just 2.0% of frequent carriers.”
The CPRC said it hired McLaughlin & Associates—a veteran polling firm with offices in New York and Virginia—to survey 1,000 general election voters on May 19th, 2026 (cross tabs available here), regarding whether likely voters carry concealed handguns. In the survey it is revealed that 13.2% carry all/most of the time, with another 16.6% carrying sometimes/rarely. The report notes that the “percent who carry all or most the time is virtually the same as the percent who carried similarly in December 2024.”
“But the percent who carry at last some of the time or rarely has increase by 5.4 percentage points (from 11.2% to 16.6%),” the report notes.
Surprisingly, according to the CPRC, “Very liberal and very conservative likely voters carry frequently at disproportionately high rates relative to their shares of the population.”
The next figures may cause some people to blink: “Very liberal voters account for 24.6% of frequent carriers even though they make up only 12.9% of likely voters. Similarly, very conservative voters account for 23.0% of frequent carriers while making up 18.0% of likely voters.”
Another interesting point which is almost buried in the report is that women make up 52% of general election voters and men make up 48%. This could be a wake-up call to men who don’t vote, but complain about election outcomes.
The report also says Republicans make up 35 % of likely voters, compared with 34% for Democrats and 31% for Independents/Other. If that is the case, anyone running for office in this or any other election cycle needs to appeal to Independents, while remaining loyal to their bases.
Between now and Nov. 3—when the only “poll” which will have a lasting impact on which direction the nation will travel—it will be safe to assume gun rights and gun prohibition groups will ramp up their efforts to get their respective voting blocs to vote. There is much at stake.
