INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An analysis of Indiana State Police data shows the number of state residents who hold active licenses to carry handguns has grown by nearly 50 percent since 2012.

The Indianapolis Star analysis also shows an increase in the number of Hoosiers who want the option to carry a handgun in public. The state approved more than 50,000 carry permits in the first three months of the year. That’s more than half of the total number of permits approved in 2015.

The number of women holding permits has also skyrocketed. By the first quarter of 2016, more than 174,000 Hoosier women held permits, up nearly 90 percent from the roughly 92,000 women who held permits in 2012.

RELATED: Records: Number of women getting concealed gun licenses up