In a new report heralded by the NRA, the General Accountability Office finds that the numbers of Americans with permits to carry a concealed weapon has surged and virtually every state now allows pistols to be carried under garments or even in a car glove box.
"The number of states allowing concealed carry permits is increasing," said the GAO.
The report included two shocking numbers:
-- There are currently 118 million handguns in America, either owned or for sale.
-- Some 8 million Americans already have a concealed carry permit, about 1 million more than previously thought.
The report found that permits are not available only in Washington, D.C. and Illinois and that some states have huge populations of conceal carry permit holders. For example, in South Dakota and Georgia, about 10 percent of the population has a permit. In Virginia, 279,000 have them but in Maryland only 12,000 can legally carry a concealed weapon.
