By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
For the third straight month, the number of active concealed pistol licenses in Washington—the smallest western state in the continental United States—exceeds 700,000, according to the state Department of Licensing.
The Evergreen State had hovered for many months in the mid 690,000 range, always nudging but never exceeding, the 700K threshold. That changed in July, when the month-end total was 701,020. In August, the total dipped to 700,574 and by the end of September, the number declined to 700,519.
According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, Washington is among a handful of states where between 10 and 15 percent of eligible adults is licensed to carry.
Tied to this bump in licensed concealed carry are reports showing the number of commissioned law enforcement officers in relation to the population is the lowest in the country. Earlier this year, Washington State House Republicans issued a report on crime in the state, noting at the bottom of one chart, “While the U.S. is set to see a decline in homicide, Washington’s murder rate has increased 96% since 2019, culminating in a new state record in 2022.”
According to data from the FBI and Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, in 2019, there were 194 murders in the Evergreen State. By 2022, that number had skyrocketed to 394 slayings. During this same period, the number of commissioned peace officers declined following the death of George Floyd while being restrained by Minneapolis police, which ignited the “Defund the Police” movement.
Significantly, this also happened on the watch of Bob Ferguson, Washington’s Democrat attorney general who is now running for governor and claiming to be strong on law enforcement.
However, his opponent, former King County Sheriff Dave Reichert, owns that argument.
Among Ferguson’s credibility problems with this subject are his advocacy for not prosecuting drug offenders and the widely-known fact that he prosecuted three Tacoma police officers in the death of a man named Manuel Ellis, and he also prosecuted Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. Juries acquitted the three officers and Sheriff Troyer.
By no small irony, the greatest number of active CPLs is in King County, the state’s most populous and most liberal. There are more than 112,000 CPLs in the county, down from last month’s figure, and from the July high of slightly more than 113,000. The county is a Democrat stronghold.
How this spike in licensed concealed carry may translate to voter turnout next month would be pure speculation. Reichert is within striking distance of defeating Ferguson while left-wing groups attack the former sheriff, who also served seven terms in Congress, over three votes he cast on abortion-related issues. Democrats dare not discuss the state’s economy, or the cost of living, high taxes and exorbitant gas prices because they are all losing issues with voters in the state.
And when it comes to public safety, the public concern about that subject is clear by the number of CPLs now in circulation.
