BELLEVUE, WA – Two months after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, while President Barack Obama launched a new gun control push, reports from across the country about surging gun sales and carry permit applications is proof that the public is increasingly relying on the Second Amendment to keep them safe, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

For example, noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, today South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs reported that residents of her state are applying for concealed carry permits “at a record pace,” according to KSFY News. The Daily Mail reported last month that applications for carry permits “have skyrocketed in California in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings.” And in Washington State, the Department of Licensing reported today that January saw the number of active concealed pistol licenses rise by more than 8,000.

“The Boston Globe reported last week that tens of thousands of new gun licenses were issued in Massachusetts last year,” Gottlieb said. “In New Jersey, with tough gun laws, applications for gun purchases last year nearly tripled over what they were in 2005. One Missouri county reported a three-month back-up in processing permit applications. A county sheriff in North Carolina is so overwhelmed, he’s asking that citizens make appointments.

“Add to this the fact that scores of sheriffs and police chiefs have encouraged citizens to arm themselves,” he added. “Suddenly, gun ownership sounds like a very good idea to people concerned about personal safety.

“What this suggests to us,” Gottlieb observed, “is that all of the rhetoric about new gun restrictions, and the realization that terrorists can strike in this country, hit a nerve with many Americans. Lots of people are buying guns for the first time. Thousands more want to carry firearms for personal protection. Opinion polls about gun control may say one thing, but actions speak louder than words, and the message people are sending is that they really do believe in their right to keep and bear arms.”

Gottlieb said this new surge in gun buying and concealed carry should send a message to the gun prohibition lobby.

“Many Americans are learning for the first time that firearms ownership is a good thing, and they’re not about to give that up for feel-good gun control measures that have historically accomplished nothing,” he concluded.