By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The number of active concealed pistol licenses in Washington state jumped by more than 4,200 during the month of April.
This jump follows a couple of months of decline, and coincides with increasing reports of crime, including carjackings, home invasion robberies, homicides and more. Then earlier this week, a report from a private group in California declared Washington to be the 8th most dangerous state in the country. The story was reported by the Tacoma News Tribune and TGM.
Study Shows WA, Despite Decade Of Gun Control, Is 8th Most Dangerous
According to the new state data, April ended with 695,321 active CPL’s, a spike of 4,214 from the March 31 figure of 691,107 licenses.
Washington might appear to be a politically “blue” state, but there are strong signals this could be changing as residents of the state have grown weary of the far-left tilt of ruling Democrats in Olympia. Under retiring Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson—who hopes to succeed Inslee in the Governor’s office in 2025—violent crime has gone up, according to alarming data from House Republicans. A chart showing violent crime rose 19 percent over the past five years, while police manpower declined significantly brought former Congressman and King County Sheriff Dave Reichert out of retirement to run for governor as a Republican.
Here’s what the Washington House Republicans reported: “According to the FBI crime report, between 2020 and 2022, the rate of violent crime in the U.S. decreased from 398.5 incidents per 100,000 people to 380.7 incidents per 100,000 people, while the rate of violent crime in Washington has increased from 293.7 incidents to 375.6 incidents, an 81.9 rate increase.”
Reichert, who rose to fame as the lawman who oversaw the capture of Gary Ridgway, the notorious Green River Killer, was known to have murdered at least 49 women, a higher number than another Evergreen State serial killer, Ted Bundy. Although Reichert declined to vie for an endorsement from the state Republican Party last month, he remains the GOP front runner over the more conservative Semi Bird.
While Reichert is seen as a “moderate,” which has some accusing him of being a RINO, his voting record has been good on Second Amendment issues.
Washington is the smallest state in the continental U.S., but has always been in the Top Ten states for concealed carry. Roughly one in 9 or 10 adults who can qualify for a CPL has one. Even in the four “bluest” counties in the state—King, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston—one finds more than 40 percent of all the CPLs, a total of 319,775 according to the new data.
Washington’s active CPL numbers have been hovering above 690,000 for more than a year, but the state has yet to crack the 700,000 threshold.
