When the Crime Prevention Research Center released it's "Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2017" report last week, it kicked off a lot of interest on both sides of the county's "gun debate."

The gist of the report's pretty simple: millions of people are taking advantage of the right to legally carry concealed firearms. So many, in fact, that in eleven of the 50 states ten percent- or more- of the adult population is licensed to carry.

John Lott's report points out, correctly, that this isn't a sign of the "last angry white male" -there are many areas where the number of women getting licenses far surpasses the number of men. And as our friend Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) points out, it's only discouraging news for "gun control lobbyists and criminals."

If you take New York and California out of the statistical equation, about 8 percent of the entire United States' population is licensed.

It seems only appropriate that I recognize one of the major contributors to that trend: while he was in office, the number of concealed carry permits and licenses increased by two hundred and fifty six percent. Guess I wasn't so far off-base when we declared Barack Obama the "gun salesman of the year" - the year before he was sworn in as President of the United States. In the ensuing eight years, it's safe to say he pretty much retired that title for anyone else.

And in the time that's passed, it's safe to say the topic of "gun rights" has been largely supplanted with the idea of "personal responsibility". It's become increasingly obvious to average Americans that the police simply can't do all the work of protecting everyone by themselves.

Because of that growing self-awareness, more and more "average" people are taking advantage of their right to take an active role in their own safety. And despite the dire predictions of groups who said the country would turn into "the wild west" there are precious few places where that's happened. Those places, FYI, would be those places where firearms ownership is significantly handicapped by ridiculous rules passed by political idealogues who'd prefer only the thugs and police be armed. If the cities of Chicago, Washington, Detroit and New York pop to mind, well, you get the picture.

And there's another reason more people are taking up shooting sports: it's fun - and a completely level playing field when it comes to physical makeups.

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That's why we're excited about next month's being declared National Shooting Sports Month by the NSSF. They've adopted a great theme: #LetsGoShooting- for a coast-to-coast celebration with the goal of focusing the public's attention on the fun and enjoyment of target shooting.

In support of National Shooting Sports Month, ranges and retailers are being asked to add their August events and sales promotions to a growing list a www.ShootingSportsMonth.org. That will enable consumers to find out places to shoot, shop and survey the fun of shooting spots.

There's also a promotional toolkit for ranges and retailers- you can learn more about it in today's news section. If you're looking for more info, here's where you can start:

Contact Zach Snow, NSSF Director, Shooting Range Services, at zsnow@nssf.org; 203-426-1320 ext. 224. Manufacturers can contact Chris Tatulli, NSSF Director, Exhibit and Sponsorship Sales, at ctatulli@nssf.org, or Dave Jeannette, NSSF Senior Director, Sales, at djeannette@nssf.org, to learn about the sponsorship package that's right for you.

So....let's decide a couple of dates in August and then let's go shooting!

--Jim Shepherd