Guns in Public Places

The Increasing Threat of Hidden Guns in America expertise, information & advocacy to end gun violence

The Dramatic Weakening of Concealed Weapons Laws Nationwide Common sense dictates that having more guns in public increases the risks of gun violence, which is why 56% of Americans oppose laws allowing people to carry concealed, loaded handguns in public places.1 Historically, most states either prohibited or severely limited concealed carrying. Handgun carrying bans were among the earliest gun laws adopted by states;2 even legendary Old West frontier towns like Dodge City, Kansas, knew better than to allow the carrying of hidden pistols.3 In the twentieth century, some states adopted “may issue” permitting systems, granting law enforcement the discretion to issue concealed carry permits to persons who could demonstrate a legitimate need to carry a hidden gun in public.4 Other states continued to ban concealed carrying altogether.

Over the past three decades, According to a Violence however, state laws have Policy Center analysis of changed dramatically. In that time, a determined gun lobby news reports, concealed has succeeded in convincing carry permit holders state after state to ignore public have killed at least 11 opinion and adopt weak “shall issue” laws that remove law law enforcement enforcement discretion from the permitting process. “Shall issue” officers and 319 private 5 citizens since May 2007. laws force law enforcement to issue permits to practically These tragic incidents anyone, including people who include 19 mass law enforcement may already shootings and 27 know pose significant safety risks to the community (such as murder-suicides. domestic abusers who have not yet been convicted of crimes). Several states have gone even further, and no longer require a permit to carry concealed; in these states, it is easier to legally carry a handgun than it is to legally drive a car.

Relatively few states continue to have “may issue” systems. Only one state now prohibits the carrying of concealed weapons.

Weak permitting laws have radically increased the number of people who may carry hidden, loaded handguns. As discussed inside, the gun lobby is now on a crusade to expand people may carry these weapons, placing us all at risk.

Comparing Concealed Weapons Laws from 1981 and Today The maps below demonstrate the weakening of laws regulating the carrying of concealed weapons over the past 30 years.

NO CARRY: Concealed carry is prohibited (1981: 19 states) (2011: 1 state and Washington, D.C.) MAY ISSUE: Concealed carry is allowed with a permit, and the issuing agency has discretion to grant or deny a permit (1981: 28 states and Washington, D.C.) (2011: 10 states) SHALL ISSUE: Concealed carry is allowed with a permit, but the issuing agency has no discretion and must grant a permit to anyone who meets minimum qualifications (1981: 2 states) (2011: 35 states) NO PERMIT REQUIRED: Concealed carry is allowed and no permit is required (1981: 1 state) (2011: 4 states)

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*At the time of printing, the governor of Wisconsin has announced plans to sign a bill that will create a “shall issue” concealed carry permitting system in Wisconsin.

Weak State Laws Allow Guns in Schools, Places of Worship, Bars, and Parks

Success Stories

According to a nationwide poll, nine out of ten Americans oppose laws allowing guns on college campuses, or in bars, restaurants, stadiums, hospitals, or government buildings.6 Despite near-universal agreement that public space should be gun-free, however, most states do not prohibit the possession of concealed weapons in a variety of public places. Often, state law is simply silent about whether a person with a concealed carry permit may bring a gun into a particular location; these gaps allow permit holders to bring guns into a variety of sensitive places by default. The adoption of “shall issue” or “no permit” systems over the past few decades makes these omissions exponentially more dangerous, since more people than ever may now carry concealed handguns.

• Illinois activists defeated the gun lobby’s latest effort to force the state to issue concealed carry permits. Governor Quinn threatened to veto the concealed carry bill if it made it to his desk, stating, “The concept of concealed, loaded handguns in the possession of private citizens does not enhance public safety. On the contrary, it increases danger for everyday people as they go about their lives.”13

In recent years, the gun lobby In the last 3 years alone, has mounted a nationwide at least 22 states have campaign to undo existing weakened their laws location-based restrictions and explicitly allow the carrying of regulating where and firearms in places where large how concealed weapons numbers of people are likely to congregate. Some of these laws may be carried in public.10 are particularly egregious. In Kansas, for example, permit holders may carry concealed, loaded handguns into bars and restaurants, where they may drink alcohol as long as they do not become so intoxicated that they are “incapable of safely operating” their weapons.7 In Utah, permit holders are allowed to carry concealed weapons in elementary schools.8 Individuals carrying concealed weapons may have the best of intentions, believing that carrying guns will protect themselves and the rest of us from some imagined, unforeseen danger. The reality, however, is that concealed handgun holders create new risks of intentional or accidental shootings.9 Members of the public who carry guns risk escalating everyday disagreements into public shootouts, especially in places where disputes frequently occur—in bars, at sporting events, or in traffic.

Permissive concealed carry laws violate our shared expectation that public places will be safe environments where we can be free from guns and gun violence. Instead, they subject all of us to the cynical worldview of a frightened few, a view that says that a person can’t be safe in public without a loaded handgun at his or her disposal. Weak concealed carry laws force us to ask a new question whenever we leave our homes: will there be guns where I’m going? Because concealed firearms are hidden from sight, you might not know the answer until it is too late.

Despite the gun lobby’s efforts to expand concealed carrying nationwide, supporters of common sense gun laws won several important victories in 2011:

• A coalition of activists, including concerned parents, students, and educators, successfully defeated bills to allow guns to be carried on college campuses in eleven states.14 • In the courts, state and local governments have continued to win important victories against plaintiffs who argue that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry handguns in public places. Courts have upheld discretionary concealed carry permitting laws15 and laws prohibiting firearms in public places, including places of worship16 and college campus facilities.17 • Expressing concerns about the risks the bill posed for law enforcement, the Governor of Montana vetoed legislation that would have allowed concealed carrying without a permit.18

Map Key A yellow icon indicates that state law generally allows the concealed carrying of a firearm by a permit holder in that location. If an icon is not present, concealed carrying is generally prohibited in that location. A white icon indicates that state law is silent in this area, therefore allowing concealed carrying by default.

University and College Campuses

8 states allow 20 states and D.C. prohibit 22 states do not regulate

Bars

8 states allow 21 states and D.C. prohibit 21 states do not regulate

Places of Worship

5 states allow 12 states and D.C. prohibit 33 states do not regulate

State Parks

18 states allow 15 states and D.C. prohibit 17 states do not regulate

White icons indicate where state laws are silent

Note: In certain states, state law authorizes property owners or administrators to prohibit firearm possession on their premises even if such possession is otherwise allowed by state law.

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On January 8, 2011, Jared Loughner shot 19 people, killing 6, near Tucson, Arizona. Although Loughner had been suspended from college due to mental health concerns and rejected by the military because of substance abuse, Arizona law allowed him to carry a gun in public without a permit.11

In Texas, where concealed weapons permitting laws are lax, permit holders were arrested for over 5,000 crimes, including murder, rape, kidnapping and theft, in a six-year period.12

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Endnotes

About LCAV

Lake Research Partners for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Findings from a National Survey of 600 Registered Voters, April 26-28, 2010, at http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/bcam/legislation/open_carry/polling-overview-slides.ppt.

2 Saul Cornell, A Well-Regulated Militia 137-44 (2006).

3 Bill Draper, Guns Still an Issue in Modern-Day Dodge City, Lawrence J.-World, Mar. 7, 2004, at http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/mar/07/guns_still_an/.

4 See Md. Code Ann., Pub. Safety §§ 5-303, 5-306(a).

5 Violence Policy Center, Concealed Carry Killers (June 2011), at http://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm.

6 David Hemenway, Deborah Azrael, Matthew Miller, National Attitudes Concerning Gun Carrying in the United States, 7 Inj. Prevention 282, 283 (2001), at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1730790&blobtype=pdf.

7 Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-7c12.

8 Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-505.5.

9 According to the Violence Policy Center, since May 2007, concealed carry permit holders have killed at least 11 law enforcement officers and 319 private citizens. Violence Policy Center, Concealed Carry Killers (June 2011), at http://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm.

10 See the New Legislation page on the LCAV website at http://www.lcav.org/content/recent_developments_home.asp for summaries of, and links to, state firearms laws enacted since 2009.

11 Tamara Audi, Daniel Gilbert & John R. Emshwiller, Emails on Loughner Reveal College’s Worries, Wall St. J., May 20, 2011, at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604576333982710893582.html; Mark Thompson, How Marijuana Use Aborted Jared Loughner’s Military Career, Time, Jan. 10, 2011, at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2041634,00.html.

12 Violence Policy Center, License to Kill IV: More Guns, More Crime 7-10 (June 2002), at http://www.vpc.org/graphics/ltk4.pdf.

13 B.J. Lutz, Quinn Says He’d Veto Concealed Carry Bill, NBC Chicago, May 3, 2011, at http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/quinn-concealed-carry-121172439.html.

14 In 2011, guns on campus bills were defeated in Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Virginia.

15 Richards v. County of Yolo, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51906 (E.D. Cal. May 16, 2011).

16 GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. v. Georgia, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6370 (M.D. Ga. Jan. 24, 2011) (holding that state law prohibiting carrying a firearm in a place of worship does not violate the Second Amendment).

17 Digiacinto v. Rector & Visitors of George Mason Univ., 704 S.E.2d 365 (Va. 2011) (upholding a state university’s regulation prohibiting firearms in campus facilities).

18 Associated Press, Schweitzer Continues Veto Spree with 15 More, Bozeman Daily Chron., May 11, 2011, at http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_944bb2ec-7be1-11e0-996d-001cc4c002e0.html.

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LCAV is a national law center formed in the wake of the July 1, 1993 assault weapon massacre at a law firm in downtown San Francisco.

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