Mainstream Media Tunes Out Concealed-Carry Movement

This feature appears in the October ‘16 issue of NRA America’s 1st Freedom, one of the official journals of the National Rifle Association.   

How many “local news stories” does it take for the national media to notice a trend? I ask because I’ve seen dozens of news stories—from Washington state to Connecticut and almost every state in between—reporting record numbers of concealed-carry licensees, wait times for licenses due to high demand, and concealed-carry classes jammed full of women and men who want to exercise their right to bear arms. Yet I’ve not seen any mention of this on any of the cable news networks or the broadcast media. The same goes for national print and online media. They’re silent on a huge story. Maybe that’s because they can’t see it.  

Licenses to carry aren’t up in Manhattan. They’re not up in Beverly Hills or the rest of Los Angeles. They’re not soaring in Washington, D.C. In the media bubble, there’s been no increase in the number of concealed-carry permit holders. This is happening in the real world instead.

In the real world, there are more than 14 million Americans with concealed-carry licenses, according to research by the Crime Prevention Research Center, and at this rate it won’t be long before the number surpasses 15 million. In the real world, people aren’t lining up to voluntarily turn in their firearms to get guns off the street, they’re signing up for concealed-carry courses at record rates. It’s a heckuva story.  

Too bad our media elites are missing it.