For the fourth straight month, the number of active concealed pistol licenses in Washington State—a politically “blue” liberal stronghold dominated by the Democrat vote in King County—has exceeded 700,000, with October’s numbers showing a bump to 701,178.

The data comes from the state Department of Licensing (DOL), which only keeps the numbers. The issuing agencies are the state’s 39 county sheriff’s departments and local municipal police departments.

The number shows roughly 9-10 percent of eligible Evergreen State adults is licensed to carry. Washington is one of 21 holdout states which has not adopted so-called “constitutional carry,” which allows the carrying of concealed sidearms for personal safety without the necessity of a license or permit. Twenty-nine states, all with Republican legislative majorities and governors, have adopted permitless carry laws.

According to the DOL, September ended with 70,519 active licenses, while August closed slightly higher with 700,574 active CPLs. The threshold was cracked at the end of July, when DOL reported to AMMOLAND News that, for the first time in the state’s history, Washington had topped the 700,000 mark by posting 701,020 active CPLs.

Interestingly, the totals in liberal King County have slipped as the total statewide numbers climbed. At the end of July, King County reported 113,054 CPLs, but by the end of August, the total had slipped to 112,672. On Sept. 30, DOL reported 112,509 active licenses in King County, and last week’s month-end total was 112,446. Stil, the numbers show that even liberals who support stricter gun controls apparently still worry about their personal safety.

Why is this significant? King County is dominated by far-left liberal Democrat politics and policies. Seattle is the county seat. When Seattle tried to ban firearms in city park facilities, the Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, National Rifle Association, Washington Arms Collectors, Washington State Rifle & Pistol Association, and several private citizens sued. The court crushed the Seattle ordinance.

When Seattle and Edmonds—the latter a suburban community north of the city—adopted ordinances requiring “safe storage” of firearms—in violation of Washington’s 40-year-old model preemption law, the gun rights community sued again, defeating the Edmonds ordinance and nullifying Seattle’s, by unanimous state Supreme Court ruling.

There is another factor which could be playing a significant role in this saga. According to the “X” site Washington Homicide, so far this year there have been 273 murders in the state. With nearly two full months remaining in 2024, the state is on track to report fewer slayings than in 2023 and the record 394 killings in 2022, but significantly more than the 172 posted in 2014, the year which saw passage of a restrictive gun control initiative requiring so-called “universal background checks.”

According to another “X” site, Seattle Homicide, so far in 2024 the Jet City has posted 54 slayings, more than twice the number reported by the city in 2015, the year the Seattle City Council adopted a special tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition. In 2015, Seattle posted 26 murders. Again, nearly two months remain in the year, so the number of killings is likely to climb, though it probably will not reach the record number set in 2023.

The homicide totals from previous years are according to data posted by the FBI Uniform Crime Report and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC).

Other cities with significant murders so far this year include Tacoma (20), Spokane (12), Yakima (11), Kent and Auburn, tied at 8, and Renton and Federal Way tied at 6 apiece, according to the Washington Homicide site.

Of course, not all murders in Washington have involved firearms, but as noted by grassroots activists, this simply proves that dangerous people with violent intentions will carry out their crimes even when they can’t get their hands on a gun. Knives, blunt instruments and even hands and feet are used to murder people.

When the July numbers were reported, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms issued a statement to the media that the numbers signaled high public concern about rising crime in the state.

In that statement, CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said the number reflects “a growing concern about Washington’s crime rates, and the fact that the state is dead last in the number of commissioned police and sheriffs’ deputies per 1,000 residents, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC).”

About Dave Workman