The result was laws, or the lack thereof, that permitted persons to carry firearms openly, known as "open carry", often without any permit required, in 22 states by 1998. Laws that permitted persons to carry concealed handguns, sometimes termed a "concealed handgun license", "CHL", or "concealed pistol license", "CPL" in some jurisdictions instead of "CCW", existed in 34 states in the U.S. by 2004. Since then, the number of states with CCW laws has increased; , all 50 states have some form of CCW laws on the books.