Packing Heat in the Tar Heel State: A County-Level Assessment of Concealed Carry Permits

• Date: 01 March 2010
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016809360325
• Published date: 01 March 2010
• Subject Matter: Articles

Packing Heat in the Tar Heel

State: A County-Level

Assessment of Concealed

Carry Permits

Joel A. Thompson

1

and Ronald Stidham

1

Abstract

This study analyzes variations in the rates at which North Carolina citizens apply for and are issued

concealed carry permits (CCPs). Various theories, primarily those related to fear of/response to

crime, demographic/geographic factors, and social learning theories of gun ownership, guide the

analysis. Generally speaking, the authors find little support for socioeconomic and demographic

explanations of CCPs in North Carolina. In addition, the authors find no support for the notion

that violent or property crimes, or changes in these crimes over time, affect CCP policy. The

authors do find some evidence that change in minority population (Black, but not Hispanic) is

significantly related to permitting. In North Carolina, there is support for a cultural model of CCPs.

Both the political conservatism and the proportion of hunters in the population (our indicator of a

cultural norm that values and cherishes gun ownership) are consistently related to permitting. The

authors conclude that the combination of political conservatism and socialization into a hunting/

gun-owning culture are more important than socioeconomic variables in explaining CCPs.

Keywords

concealed carry permits, gun permits, gun laws

Introduction

This study analyzes variations in rates at which North Carolina citizens apply for and are issued

concealed carry permits (CCPs). The analysis is guided by various theories, primarily those related

to fear of/response to crime, demographic/geographic factors, and social learning theories of gun

ownership. The basic tenet of the first theory is that it is the fear of crime that persuades people that

they need a gun for their own protection. The core idea of the second theory is that certain segments

of the population are simply more likely to be favorably disposed to gun ownership, because they

live in a particular region of the country. The third theory holds that ideas about gun ownership may

be the result of socialization patterns and learned responses to others in society.

1

Department of Government and Justice Studies, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Ronald Stidham, Department of Government and Justice Studies, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608, USA.

Email: stidhamr@appstate.edu

Criminal Justice Review

35(1) 52-66

ª2010 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016809360325

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