(NaturalNews) The number of people acquiring concealed carry permits continues to grow, with a 15 percent increase in the last year alone. Part of that increase is due to a rise in permit applications from two distinct demographic groups: blacks and women.

According to John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, those two groups are the ones who need protection the most. Lott, who is also the author of More Guns, Less Crime, was the subject of an interview with RealClearPolicy.com, in which he discusses the trend.

Lott says that many blacks and women have changed their views on gun ownership in recent years and that the rise in permits among these two groups reflects their change in attitude:

My own belief is that, if you look at the evidence, women and blacks, particularly poor blacks who live in high-crime urban areas, are the people who benefit the most from owning guns. I think that message is just starting to get out in the last few years.

The rate of increase in women obtaining permits is currently around twice that of men. Women now account for 25 percent of gun permit holders. Lott says there is evidence that blacks and other minorities are also obtaining permits at around twice the rate of whites.

Lott's observations refer to studies conducted by the Crime Prevention Research Center, which has just released a paper containing statistics and analysis regarding concealed carry permit holders in the US.

For more news related to your Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, visit GunControl.FETCH.news.

Gun permits increase, murder rates drop

One of the important findings of the research is the fact that murder rates fell 25 percent between 2007 and 2014, a period in which the percentage of adults with permits increased by 156 percent. In fact, the states with the largest increase in permits have also seen the largest corresponding decrease in murder rates.

When asked how states can improve their permitting processes, Lott replied:

The big thing to me is the cost of getting a permit. You can look at two neighboring states — Illinois and Indiana. In Indiana if you go to get a permit, it costs $45. In Illinois, if you go through the whole process, you're basically talking about something around $450. The problem with those high fees is that the people who benefit from permits the most are basically poor blacks who live in high-crime urban areas who are victims of crimes. If the fee is $450, plus the training cost, who do you think is going to obtain a permit? This isn't even including the cost of the gun. Plus you have other fees in Illinois; you also have to get the license to own a gun. It's those types of costs that make it so poor people are priced out of the ability to go and defend themselves.

It's clear that where the number of gun permits increases, violent crime decreases. Those who live in low-income areas need permits, so it doesn't make sense to charge high fees for them -- especially when it is so easy and cheap for a criminal to obtain a gun illegally. States can find other ways of raising revenues, and meanwhile they should allow the poor and vulnerable members of the community to have affordable access to personal protection.

The resulting drop in violent crime rates should more than offset the cost of dropping the price of permits, and our most crime-ridden neighborhoods would be safer places to live in.

One thing is sure: The times are changing. It's quite interesting that the two demographics growing the fastest in terms of gun permits are ones which have been traditionally associated with liberal, anti-gun political views.

It seems that many of them are beginning to see the light.

Sources:

http://www.realclearpolicy.com

http://papers.ssrn.com