Will "Butch" Sears, a former Drug Enforcement Administration firearms trainer and retired El Paso County sheriff's deputy, has been a firearms instructor since 1962.
Since January, he said, attendance at his monthly classes has grown from about 20 to 30 people. His clients come from all walks of life, including housewives and business people.
Most, he said, are worried about changes to gun laws. Some are also worried about spillover drug violence.
Clients are also concerned, he said, that the downturn in the economy could mean a spike in crime.
"Most of my students say, 'I have a right not to be a victim,' " Sears said.
El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said crime in the area remains low. El Paso has for years ranked among the safest cities in the nation.
Violence from Juárez, which has been raging since early 2008, has seeped north only in isolated cases directly related to drug trafficking, he said.
"I certainly don't think those reasons are justified at this point because there's no indication those things are happening," Wiles said.
Still, Wiles said, he was not opposed to more El Pasoans arming themselves with concealed weapons if it makes them feel safer.
Fears about tighter gun controls have been widespread since Obama took office. But there has been little federal action on that front, and Congress even voted to allow guns in national parks.
"I haven't seen any indication that the big, bad Obama administration is coming to take their guns," said Josiah Heyman, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.
He said research has shown that often people's perceived fears do not reflect the actual environment.
As in the case of El Paso, Heyman said, crime rates can be low, but people at the same time report increased feelings of anxiety about crime.
I'm wondering if Sheriff Wiles thinks the only reason El Paso has been relatively safe is because of law enforcement? and not even partially because a criminal doesn't know whether his potential target is armed?
