BELLEVUE, WA – Amid rising violent crime, Washington has reported a stunning number of active Concealed Pistol Licenses issued in a single month; proving that extremist gun control efforts in the Evergreen State have failed miserably and people realize it, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
New data from the state Department of Licensing shows law enforcement agencies around the state issued 11,292 CPLs in June. This brings the total number of active carry licenses to a whopping 655,709, surpassing the previous record of 650,403 set on April 1, 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic caused a suspension of CPL application processing. Still, Washington boasts the highest number of resident licenses of any western state.
Two neighboring counties—King and Pierce—account for more than half of all the new licenses. King added 2,504 CPLs and Pierce added 3,605. Over the past three months, Washington has added 18,355 active CPLs.
“Violent crime in Pierce and King counties, combined with a reduction in police manpower has obviously resulted in a predictable public reaction,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “People will protect themselves and their families, and they’re taking that responsibility seriously. These sensible law-abiding citizens realize they are their own first responders.
“The surge in violent crime is undeniable proof of the total failure of gun control in Washington,” he continued. “Since the billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobby started financing extremist ballot measures in 2014, and anti-gun Seattle-area lawmakers began pushing their gun control agenda in the Legislature, Washington murders have gone up, not down. Voters fooled by slick campaign promises are evidently changing their minds.
“The radical gun control agenda, which only penalizes honest citizens, has been championed by Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson,” Gottlieb said. “Gun restrictions supported by them and pushed by their Democrat colleagues in the Legislature have produced literally less than nothing. Their fanatical efforts to disarm people have resulted in more gun sales and licenses to carry. Gun control zealots have been wrong all along, yet they continue to demand even more restrictions. It’s time for the public to stop listening to their nonsense.
“We should adopt a different strategy,” Gottlieb concluded. “Hundreds of thousands of Washington residents evidently agree.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
