Even before the September 11th attacks, more and more people began taking steps to arm themselves in the event they're attacked.

And since Ohio enacted a law allowing people to seek licenses to carry concealed weapons, an increasing number of new and existing firearms owners have been taking courses to get that license.

The past decade has seen an increase of citizens wanting to protect themselves...by taking advantage of laws approved several years earlier...allowing them to carry concealed weapons. But that requires them to have a license.

"People have written me letters saying, 'had it not been for you, I may not be here today'," says firearms instructor Roger Richards. "And that's what we're here for."

Richards is one of several people who teach concealed carry license classes.

In some cases, he's had to turn people away, because the classes have had as many as 50 people.

"We don't just have a class just to teach people how to shoot guns," Richards says. "I think the idea of learning how to properly shoot guns is to protect people. But what we're interested in is the people knowing the laws and how to protect themselves."

Lee Gilliam, another local instructor, agrees that safety is an important factor in the ability of people to defend themselves.

"One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is, when they go out and buy a firearm, they do not know to properly use it," Gilliam says. "It is very important they get some kind of a safety course and proper instruction, not to mention that, if you are going to carry (a firearm), you have to have a permit. You have to take a concealed carry course to do that."

And the effort to arm one's self isn't completely confined to males.
Richards says a lot of women have taken his classes to get gun permits...many of whom in the past didn't even like to be around guns.