Texans getting more CCW permits, processing backlog rises

The good news: more Texans are getting concealed carry permits. The bad news: Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is having trouble keeping up with the processing backlog for all the new and renewal permits:

(Click to enlarge. Graphic: Dallas Morning News)

The jerk of the handgun knocked Pam Denman back a bit.

Before recently she had never held a gun – much less fired one.

She's not alone.

Mrs. Denman is one of more than 52,000 people in the state who have submitted an application for a first-time concealed handgun license or renewal since the beginning of the year, according to figures from the Texas Department of Public Safety. That is an almost 5 percent increase over the first six months of 2007.

The crunch – which some say is spurred by concerns about rising crime, the state's new castle law and uncertainty about future gun laws – has created a ballooning backlog of applications for the department and angered gun proponents.

Read the article here. While we can certainly argue why getting a permit is even necessary to exercise a fundamental human and constitutional right, the fact is that the more people who get permits, the harder it will be for power-hungry politicians to take away our right to bear arms.