More Oklahomans than ever are exercising their right to legally carry a gun.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation issued more than 60,000 handgun licenses to Oklahoma residents last year — a 50 percent increase compared to 2012 and more than double the number reported in 2011.

Of the year's licensees, a third are women and two-thirds men. The average age of those obtaining a license is 50.

Publicity after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in late 2012 may have contributed to the increase, firearms industry experts say. The gun debate that arose drove many customers of H&H Shooting Sports Complex to get trained and licensed, owner Miles Hall said. The store, at Interstate 40 and S Meridian Avenue, shattered sales records in the month after the Newtown shooting.