CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - It's a sign and sound of the times. Chances are someone you know is packing heat. "Most people are scared of something, they hear a bump in the night, they read a crime report, the Lancaster incident."

It might sound cliche, but the reality for many people is that police just can't be everywhere at once. That leads many to places like Carolina Sporting Arms where Donald Ingram is noticing a trend in business.

"Most people don't just want to buy a gun, they want to have it at their disposal; either hidden in their car or on their person when they go shopping somewhere," Ingram said.

To meet that need, Ingram's store offers classes to obtain concealed carry permits. It's a class that is filling up everyday. Numbers obtained from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office certainly point to that.

RALEIGH, NC (WBTV) - North Carolina's Governor Bev Perdue has officially announced that she will not seek re-election for governor later this year.

Within several hours of making her announcement, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton said he would seek the governor's slot while Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx only said he was considering his political future.

In a statement released on Thursday at 12:01 p.m., the first-term Perdue said "I am announcing today that I have decided not to seek re-election."

In the four paragraph statement, Perdue said that she was not one to back down from tough fights, but stated that "we live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces.

WEB EXTRA: Read Gov Bev Perdue's full statement here

BELMONT, NC (WBTV) - Two wrestling coaches have been fired from their coaching jobs in Gaston County after a 10th grade wrestler suffered a broken bone during a practice last week.

According to Gaston County Schools, Jock Smith, the wrestling coach at South Point High School, and John Goodwin, a wrestling coach at Belmont Middle School, have both been fired after a 15-year-old was injured.

Cody Merrill, a 10th grader, suffered a broken collar bone while at wrestling practice on January 18th at the South Point High School.

Merrill told WBTV that Goodwin, who was posing as an assistant wrestling coach and took things too far when the two were wrestling. 

"He countered me and threw me," 10th grader Cody Merrill said.  "And when he did that, he did it so hard - it tore ligaments in my arm. I landed - he landed on me and broke my collar bone. I heard my collar bone snap.