There are a large number of people who seem to believe that if law-abiding citizens were to carry guns, they’d suddenly morph into rampaging, homicidal maniacs intent on slaughtering people by the thousands.

Alright, maybe they don’t articulate it quite that way, but we’ve all heard arguments that aren’t far off from that.

It’s why so many people believe that more guns mean more crime.

Well, if they really believe that, they might want to just hide under their beds for the rest of their lives.

Concealed carry permits have increased by 2.3% in 2022 compared to last year, despite nearly half of U.S. states enacting what have been termed constitutional carry laws that don’t require Americans to obtain a government-issued permit to legally carry firearms, a new report shows.

“As the United States is moving into a post-pandemic era, the number of concealed handgun permits has continued increasing. The figure now stands at 22.01 million – a 2.3% increase since last year,” a report published by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which was provided to Fox News Digital, this week.

CPRC compiled the data using information from concealed carry permits issued in states across the country this year. The report does not rely on surveys on gun ownership or polls, which CPRC argued can lead to people not answering honestly. A concealed carry weapon (CCW) is the practice of Americans carrying firearms in a public space but in a way that is not visible to others.

“Last year, the number of permit holders continued to grow by about 488,000. At 2.3% growth over 2021, that is the slowest percent and absolute increase that we have seen since we started collecting this data in 2011. Part of that is due to the number of permits declining in the Constitutional Carry states even though it is clear that more people are legally carrying,” the report states.

That makes sense.

More people are carrying because they don’t have to jump through hoops such as being fingerprinted like a criminal. They just grab a holster, slap it on wherever it’s supposed to go and get going.

But many will still seek out a permit and do so for a number of reasons.

One is that while half the states now have constitutional carry, many others don’t but may have reciprocity with their home state. That means they can carry when they travel to those states without worry.

Others may be concerned that their home state will repeal constitutional carry at some point and don’t want to have to scramble in order to get one.

Regardless of why, they’re doing it and that’s a good thing.

While most crimes are at a steady rate compared to previous years, violent crimes like homicide are soaring. As I noted earlier this week, the odds of you or someone you know being a homicide victim are increasing. Armed citizens are in a position to help themselves and possibly others. They don’t necessarily even need to fire their weapon in order to save lives and we all know it.

Guns aren’t the problem. They’re the solution, and more people carrying guns is a good thing.

For some, it never will be, and that’s on them, not us.