The first shot rang out in Florida 15 years ago, and the advocates of guns for personal defense never let up.

From state to state the movement spread, a campaign to overturn laws against carrying concealed weapons and to give residents an opportunity to pack guns hidden in holsters or purses.

The latest to go concealed: New Mexico.

A few years ago, Missouri and Kansas stood in the middle of the fight. Then, for a while, they fell to the side.

Now the two states are back in the thick of it, along with some others, including Ohio.

"The pendulum is swinging the other way now," said Lenexa antique gun dealer Jim Supica, a member of the National Rifle Association's board of directors.

One factor fueling the push: changed feelings brought about by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I think there is more of a sense of personal vulnerability, a seriousness of the issue of personal defense," Supica said.

Besides Kansas and Missouri, just four other states -- Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin -- ban concealed weapons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As recently as 1995, nearly twice that many did, the group said.

In the 1980s, 40 or more states prohibited concealed weapons, the National Rifle Association said. In 1987 Florida decided to loosen up, to allow law-abiding citizens to obtain permits to carry concealed guns.

Who could have predicted the victories of the pro-gun movement since?

"I've been surprised," said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore. "The NRA and other advocates have been very successful in promoting this kind of change."

Polls indicate they're in the minority, but they're vocal, well-funded, passionate and willing to make guns a primary voting issue, Vernick said.

Of those opposed to concealed guns, he said, "They don't have the political influence."

The opponents are battling back where they can -- and achieving some victories.

One of two bills to widen Colorado's law on concealed guns was defeated recently in a legislative committee. A bid to loosen training requirements for gun owners in Utah was turned back.

But the opponents are scrambling.

"Basically, what you see is the NRA chipping away," said Nancy Hwa, spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington.

Last week, in the Missouri General Assembly, a committee endorsed two bills that would allow the carrying of concealed guns.

In the Kansas Legislature, a pending bill would give retired law enforcement officers the right to carry concealed guns.

The proposal could easily be amended to extend that opportunity to others, said sponsor Rep. Candy Ruff, a LeavenworthDemocrat. For now, she said, the priority is helping retired officers. Gun bills usually do well in the Kansas House but encounter criticism in the Senate.

Several years ago Elizabeth Kinch of Derby, Kan., helped form Safe State, a group opposed to concealed guns.

She said the NRA benefits from persistence, with a relatively few committed crusaders overcoming the wishes of the public.

"I would like to believe that we can continue to move ahead toward a more progressive, civilized society," Kinch said. "You look at European communities, and they don't have this proliferation of weapons. It's just the United States that does."

For a while, in the late 1990s, it looked as if Kinch and her allies had prevailed around here.

When the Kansas Legislature passed a concealed gun bill, Gov. Bill Graves vetoed it. When the Missouri legislature put a concealed gun question on the election ballot as Proposition B, voters rejected it.

In the midst of all that, the 1999 bloodbath at Columbine High School in Colorado prompted an outpouring of gun criticism.

But if the pro-gun push entered a lull, it's over.

The nightmare scenarios that anti-gun activists warned about -- Dodge City-style shootouts between those legally carrying guns -- haven't happened in states that approved concealed weapons.

While researchers cannot agree that carrying guns prevents crime, they cannot agree that it's bad, either.

Meanwhile, the NRA says its membership is rising, to 4.3 million people at last check.

Gun supporters are well-known for their willingness to draft letters or make phone calls to their state legislators. Such contacts easily can evolve into what lawmakers consider a landslide of public opinion.

This year, Missouri gun backers have started appealing to the legislature again.

"There is no right to life if you have no right to protect that life," Chris Meissen, a West Plains resident, told legislators at a hearing.

They dismiss the rejection of Proposition B in Missouri, saying that questions of constitutional rights shouldn't be subject to the whims of the electorate and that the issue never should have gone on the ballot.

"If you let the people of Missouri speak on civil rights, women and blacks might not be voting today," Marc Anderson, a Columbia resident, said at the same hearing.

Outside of mid-America, two new laws took effect last year: New Mexico approved the carrying of concealed guns, although courts are holding up the measure, and Michigan opened up its law to make permits easier to obtain.

This year, the NRA sees the possibility of concealed-carry victories in Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

"We'd like to see concealed-carry in all 50 states," said Kelly Whitley, a representative for the National Rifle Association's office in suburban Washington. "It's certainly possible."

The Star's Kit Wagar contributed to this report.