Ask almost any New Yorker about guns and you’ll get a strong opinion. Now, new numbers from the NYPD show more city residents than ever are trying to legally carry one. At the Earnest Training Center, instructor Kevin Earnest lines up students in front of a table of paint rounds and a bright blue training pistol. The tools are fake — but the lessons, he says, are meant to mimic the real thing. “This is a training gun,” he explains over the crack of simulated gunfire. “Anything can happen in NYC. So it’s always best to be prepared — you can never be overprepared.” Earnest is an NRA-certified instructor who runs a gun-safety course for New Yorkers applying for concealed carry permits. Since a 2022 Supreme Court ruling reshaped New York’s gun laws, he says demand for his classes has surged. According to an analysis of NYPD data by the nonprofit news outlet THE CITY, more than 17,000 New Yorkers have been approved for concealed carry permits since 2022 — a dramatic jump from the fewer…..