Bad guys or bears.

Concealed pistol permits have exploded across Michigan, but the pace at which they have been embraced varies by region — and by whether the threats have two legs or four.

In one Upper Peninsula county, nearly one in 10 adults 21 and older has a permit, according to an analysis by Booth newspapers. At the other extreme, it’s fewer than three out of 100 in several West Michigan counties.

But wherever they live, the number of permit holders is rising, and the reason for most is the same — protection.

“God created men, but Sam Colt made them equal,” said Mike Visser, a certified firearms instructor in Kent County who figures he has trained just over 2,000 people seeking a concealed pistol license.

Ten years ago this week, Michigan became a “shall-issue” state, making it easier for residents to obtain concealed licenses if they are at least 21 and meet certain requirements.

The first year, 53,000 permits were approved, according to State Police records. Today there are more than 270,000 permit holders, double the amount five years ago.

The distribution differs sharply. Five of the state’s top 10 counties in terms of licenses per capita are in the Upper Peninsula; all are in northern Michigan.

Five of the bottom 10 — Kent, Ottawa, Kalamazoo, Muskegon and Berrien counties — are in west and and southwest Michigan. In Kent County, the lowest, only 18 in 1,000 adults has a concealed pistol license, half the state average.

“I have no idea why,” said Dr. Wallace Duffin, a firearms instructor who chairs Kent County’s gun board, “I’m surprised to hear that.”

This he knows: “It’s nothing that we’re doing, at the rate we’re going.”

Everywhere, demand is up. Many county gun boards, set up by the law to approve or deny licenses, no longer call in each applicant. At Jackson County’s May board meeting, only two of 153 were called in. Kent County now only calls in questionable applicants.

Ottawa, Macomb and only a handful of other boards still see every applicant face to face.

“We don’t look to make this an obstacle,” Macomb Assistant Prosecutor Bill Harding said. “To us this is the most efficient way.”

If applicants have no significant criminal history or other red flags, the board can see as many as 12 people in 15 minutes, Harding said. The board still has to meet multiple times a month.

Macomb was the undisputed leader in issuing concealed permits, after former prosecutor Carl Marlinga implemented a “shall issue” philosophy. One year it granted just over 4,000 licenses, half the state total.

People clamored for Macomb addresses, Harding said.

That’s no longer necessary. The board issued more than 7,300 permits last year, or 8.4 percent of the 86,000 approved statewide.

In fact, today 50 counties have more permit holders per capita.

Gun culture differs across the state. In urban and suburban areas, applicants generally say they are seeking protection from crime.

Harry Akers, a firearms instructor in Lapeer County, said he is seeing more people from Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Midland in his classes. He has heard horror stories.

A Flint man told Akers he asked some men to leave his property who later returned, spraying bullets into his first-floor apartment.

The man pulled a rifle from under his bed and started shooting through his walls.

“He just wanted to make sure he was able to protect himself when he wasn’t in his room,” Akers said.

Wayne, the state’s largest county, has the most licenses — more than 52,000 — but on a per-capita basis is just a little above the state average of 37.7 per 1,000 eligible adults. Oakland County has nearly 38,000 permits, second most in the state but just 36th per capita.

In fact, of the 10 largest counties, only one even cracked the top 20 per capita: Genesee at No. 19.

SERIES AT A GLANCE

Sunday: Investigation reveals deep flaws in the 10-year-old law making it easier to carry a concealed weapon in Michigan.

Monday: Broken links result in violations not being reported. Plus: Why prosecutors quit county gun boards.

Tuesday: Where the guns are: What counties have the most permits per capita? Who has them?

Wednesday: A day at the gun board. Inside the meetings before the results are made secret.

• Complete coverage

By contrast, many northern and Upper Peninsula counties issued fewer than 1,000 permits, but they have much high per-capita rates. Permit holders are less concerned about criminals than what might be around the corner.

“About half that called me are worried about wolves, wolves that will kill their dogs,” said Paul Ewing, who teaches a pistol safety course in the Upper Peninsula. “That’s the number one reason I hear.”

Ewing knows both extremes.

Two years ago, his wife took a job in Ironwood, and the family moved to the small town wedged against the Wisconsin border. Ewing became the only pistol instructor in town.

“People up here are much more casual. They are not unsafe, but they are much more used to the idea of the gun being a tool,” Ewing said.

His Detroit-area classes were mostly men concerned with crime, owning newer and expensive pistols.

“A lot of people down there had never held a gun,” Ewing said.

The people he teaches today come into class with older guns, passed down from grandfathers and fathers.

In Keweenaw County, where nearly one in 10 adults has a concealed pistol license, most people carry their handguns for hunting, County Clerk Julie Carlson said.

“It’s not for protection from people,” Carlson said. “It’s protection from animals.”

Wolf and bear attacks, however, are quite rare.

In the past three years, four people have been attacked by bears, none with life-threatening injuries, said Debbie Munson Badini, of the Department of Natural Resources’ Marquette office. In the past five years, bears have attacked livestock only seven times and pets just five times in eight years, she said.

Wolves, by contrast, attacked livestock 50 times in 2010, a particularly bad year, Badini said. But wolves attacked pets only three times in 2010, she said, and have never attacked a human.

“People think this is something that is happening a lot more than it is,” Badini said.

Still, Schoolcraft County Sheriff Grant Harris said if he was a civilian he would have a permit, for hunting and protection from animals — and for crime.

Two east-west highways, U.S. 2 and M-28, bring a lot people through the sparsely populated area.

“You really don’t know who is driving through town,” Harris said. “People are comfortable up here. It’s quiet, but crime is all around us.”