DETROIT — Police Chief James Craig said violent extremists and shooters would be less likely to target Detroit for fear armed citizens would shoot back.

“A lot of Detroiters have CPLs (concealed pistol licenses) and the same rules apply to terrorists as they do to some gun-toting thug,” Craig told the Detroit News. “If you’re a terrorist, or a carjacker, you want unarmed citizens.”

Although no specific threats have been made, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security released a bulletin last week to 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, warning there could be attacks similar to the Nov. 13 terrorist strikes in Paris that killed 130 people.

In Detroit last year, 1,169 handgun permits were issued and more than 8,000 guns were registered with the police department. According to the Michigan State Police, more than 115,000 gun permits were issued statewide and more than 30,000 Detroit residents are legally armed. There were 6,974 concealed-pistol licenses issued to residents in 2013, more than double those in 2009, and 7,584 issued in 2012, the state police said.

Craig made national headlines in 2013 after he told The Detroit News that he thought more armed citizens would help drive down the crime rate and said some gun control advocates are softening their stances amid the concerns about terrorism.

“If you look at what happened in Paris, I’m not saying if more citizens had had guns it would have stopped the terrorists,” he said recently. “But it sure might have helped.”