Johnston County, located near the center of North Carolina, has seen an impressive surge in concealed carry permits, based on statistics from the Johnston County Sheriff's Office.

“Last April the total number of concealed carry permits issued for Johnston County was 4,500, and as of January 2012 that number has risen to more than 6,600,” The Selma News reported.  “If the trend continues, by April 2012, there could be as many as 7,400 concealed carry permits issued, which would be an increase of roughly 64 percent from the previous year.”

Factoring in data from the U.S. Census, this meant that, “approximately one out of every 25 people [here] have a concealed carry permit.”

Handgun ownership has become increasingly popular here, too.  As The Selma News noted, “A substantial amount of gun purchase permits (4,513) were issued last year in Johnston County. This is an average of roughly 376 purchase permits a month. The highest month was last February with 558 purchase permits issued and the lowest was last June with 228. However, in January of this year the county issued 616 purchase permits.”