Florida Newspapers Question Concealed Handgun Permit System in State

Orlando Sentinel: Some criminals qualify for concealed weapons. But what is the bottom line? During over 19 years from October 1, 1987 to December 31, 2006, Florida issued 1,206,616 permits but revoked just 158 for any type of firearms violation. Almost all of those were for non-threatening incidents such as accidentally carrying a gun into a restricted area such as an airport. (Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services, Concealed Weapon / Firearm Summary Report, October 1, 1987 - November 30, 2006 (see here). See also More Guns, Less Crime (2000), p. 221.) One minor point is that I think that there are actually about 550,000 people with concealed carry permits in Florida, not just 406,000. The question is whether you want to include retired police, private investigators, firearms instructors, private security officers, etc. who have permits to carry.