The issue, in part, is that the yearly AG's report comes out and says "4-5" citizens applied. I can't recall where it was said, but on one occasion the Chief replied that CCW wasn't a big issue since only a few people applied. I think it would be much more difficult to so easily dismiss the CCW issue if hundreds of folks applied. Furthermore, assuming none of those "hundreds" that applied got a permit, it would make any subsequent argument that it wasn't a big deal moot.
I know that Chris had tried this before, but I think to be successful, we'd need to have a system in place where "we" (whoever that might be...) kept track of who submitted applications, along with encouraging folks to digitally record their application (take a picture with your phone before submitting it...) so that we know the actual numbers and can challenge the AG report if it tries to under-report the number of applications submitted.