By: José Niño

When it comes to how firearms are regulated in America, there is wide array of jurisdictions that govern this matter differently.

Coastal urban centers tend to be very hostile towards the lawful ownership of firearms.

Nevertheless, no matter how strong the gun control obstacles anti-Second Amendment politicians are able to enact, there is still a strong desire among many Americans to arm themselves.

The case of Washington, D.C. is rather interesting. D.C. has traditionally been one of the more violent cities in America. According to the FBI’s 2019 Crime in the United States data, the city’s homicide rate of 23.52 per 100,000 people was ranked 13th in the nation. The city also features some of the strongest gun control laws in the nation.

Nevertheless, this has not completely kept lawful gun owners from trying to acquire firearms. In fact, Fox 5 reported that several firearm instructors in the city are noticing an uptick in individuals trying to acquire concealed carry permits in response to the city’s surging crime rates.

John Ayala, the owner of Archangel Security and Training, is one of the people who has picked up on this trend. Ayala possesses a D.C. Police certification that allows him to be a firearms instructor.

The firearms instructor has noticed more people, especially women, wanting to acquire concealed carry permits in response to the city’s recent crime surge and the overall unrest that has swept across the nation since the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020.

Ayala is of the view that the new interest in acquiring concealed carry permits is largely due to the city’s homicide spike, in which homicides grew by 12 percent from a year-to-year basis in September.

“A lot of women … especially African American women coming to us, asking us to train them. And this is because there’s been a lot of women getting shot in D.C. We just had on yesterday down Congress. So because of that, the women feel that they have to protect themselves,” said Ayala.

On top of being a firearms instructor, Ayala is an anti-violence activist who recognizes the role armed, law-abiding individuals can play in stopping gun violence.

“The reason why I can do both of them is because I’m a true believer in if more people have firearms, that we’re going to have less crime in the D.C. area,” said Ayala, adding, “…once bad people see citizens are shooting back and protecting themselves – bad guys are going to be very cautious on trying to rob somebody.”

Fox 5 highlighted the number of concealed carry permits that DC has issued over the past five years:

Approved Concealed Carry Permit Stats

– 2016: 44

– 2017: 94

– 2018: 2044

– 2019: 1734

– 2020 (full year): 2207

– 2020 (YTD – January 1 – September 10): 1034

– 2021 (YTD – January 1-September 10): 2585

No matter the city or state they live in, Americans have strong instincts to get armed. Especially, during times when social order is breaking down. The fact that in DC, an anti-gun stronghold, people are rushing to acquire concealed carry permits just shows how uphill of a struggle it will be for Gun Control Inc. to fully realize its anti-American agenda.

Hopefully, more urban residents start revolting against the desires of their busybody politicians.

José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Sign up for his mailing list here. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.