Gun owners in Indiana are on pace to top last year’s number of concealed carry permit applications in a big way.

According to analysis by the IndyStar, the number of Hoosiers who hold active licenses to carry handguns has grown by nearly 50 percent since 2012.

And the data that backs their analysis makes their case a slam dunk:

In the first three months of 2016, the state approved more than 50,000 carry permits, more than half of the total number of permits approved in 2015.

The state also is seeing the number of women permit holders skyrocketing. By the first quarter of 2016, more than 174,000 Hoosier women held permits, up nearly 90 percent from the roughly 92,000 women who held permits in 2012.

One Indiana Sheriff said his office often receives questions about licensing following events like the Orlando, FL nightclub shooting and domestic terrorist attack in San Bernardino, CA.

“Any type of event like this always brings on scrutiny of gun ownership, but also people want to go out and do anything to protect themselves,” Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen said.

The shooting also spurred calls from President Obama to tighten gun laws, which had an adverse effect in the country, including the state of Indiana.

“Anytime there is an issue in the news where politicians are talking about limiting people’s right to bear arms, that proportionally usually results in an increase in people buying licenses to carry,” Indiana State Police Capt. Dave Bursten said.

But there are also residents in the Hoosier State who carry because they know their personal protection is up to them. In Morgan County, Sheriff Robert Downey said his constituents are conservative believers in the Second Amendment who view their right to carry as a public safety utility.

“We may be 15 to 20 minutes away in the worst case scenario,” he said, referencing law enforcement response times.

Keep it up, Indy!