Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 11:21:22 -0500 From: Jeff Halapin <[g--ee--y] at [onramp.net]> To: [texas gun owners] at [zilker.net], [c h li] at [fc.net] Subject: New CHL Stats Posted to texas-gun-owners by Jeff Halapin <[g--ee--y] at [onramp.net]> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By JUAN B. ELIZONDO Jr.= Associated Press Writer= AUSTIN (AP) _ More than 90,000 Texans are licensed to carry concealed handguns, according to the Department of Public Safety. The DPS says it had issued 91,501 concealed-carry licenses as of Wednesday. Another 617 people had been denied licenses. The department on Thursday released its monthly report covering 85,818 licenses issued as of Aug. 1. The report showed: _ 80,807, or just more than 94 percent of those permits went to white men and women. That could include Hispanics, who are not counted separately. _ White men, including some Hispanics, held 65,607, or 76.5 percent, of the permits. _ Black men and women had 2,566, or nearly 3 percent. _ Black men held 2,239, or 2.6 percent. Texas lawmakers approved the concealed-carry law last year. Permits began going out last fall and permitholders were allowed to carry their concealed weapons starting Jan. 1. State officials had estimated 75,000 permits would be issued in the first fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31. That estimate was passed last month. The department said 273,539 people had requested applications and 99,652 had returned completed forms so far. ``We're glad that people are taking advantage of the opportunity,'' said Mark Seale, a spokesman for Sen. Jerry Patterson, R-Pasadena. Patterson sponsored the law. ``We think that the numbers will continue once people realize they can achieve their safety legally. The blood in the street that opponents predicted hasn't happened and it won't happen.'' The DPS report also shows age descriptions of the 85,818 permitholders and the ZIP codes in which they live. Information about the other permitholders will be released next month. By age: _ Two 92-year-old Texans were the oldest licensed to carry concealed weapons. The law does not allow the DPS to report individuals' names or addresses. _ The youngest people allowed to carry concealed handguns are 21. There were 142 of them. _ The median age of permitholders was 50. There were 2,387 50-year-olds licensed. By postal ZIP code, nine areas were home to more than 300 permitholders each, including seven in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas. Those were: _ 75149 (370) and 75150 (325), which cover parts of Mesquite in Dallas County. _ 75043 (357), which covers part of Garland, in Dallas County. _ 77536 (326), Deer Park in Harris County. _ 76017 (324), Arlington in Tarrant County. _ 76028 (319), Burleson in Johnson-Tarrant counties. _ 76180 (315), Fort Worth in Tarrant County. _ 77566 (306), Lake Jackson, in Brazoria County. _ 75067 (303), Lewisville, in Denton County. (Copyright 1996 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) =================================== Jeff Halapin [g--ee--y] at [onramp.net] =================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- For help with Majordomo commands, send a message to [m--r--o] at [zilker.net] with the word help in the message body.