Permitless Carry is Reckless Carry

It’s common sense: if you want to own a firearm, you should know how to use it safely. In fact, nearly every state has prioritized the safety of its residents by requiring people to qualify for a permit if they wish to carry a concealed firearm in public spaces. If someone is going to carry a hidden, loaded weapon in public, it is in the community’s best interest that they are trained and legally qualify to own a gun.

The gun lobby disagrees.

For years now, the Washington gun lobby has been pressuring states to eliminate important safety standards, which would allow people who have never passed a background check or fired a gun in their lives to carry hidden, loaded guns in public crowds as soon as they buy them.

Make no mistake, permitless carry puts everyone in the community at risk, significantly weakens law enforcement’s ability to protect the public, and threatens citizens’ rights to safely and peaceably enjoy public spaces in their community.

Here are a few facts you should know about permitless concealed carry:

• Public carry is already dangerous — even when the people carrying these guns have passed a background check and obtained a permit. In fact, researchers found that states with lax concealed carry laws have higher rates of aggravated assaults. That risk is likely even higher in states that place no restrictions on who can acquire a gun and carry it in public.
• There is no federal concealed carry law. Individual states have the choice to implement strong and responsible permitting laws or implement weak and irresponsible permitting laws. Some states, like New Mexico and Oregon, have chosen to be responsible. Others have not.
• Alarmingly, eleven states have eliminated their concealed carry permit requirements since 2003 (Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming). A twelfth state, Vermont, is the only state in the country that never placed restrictions on concealed carry.
• In these 12 states, people can get a gun without passing a background check AND immediately carry concealed, if they purchase the gun through a private sale, rather than from a gun store. That means these states take essentially zero steps to prevent demonstrably dangerous and irresponsible people from acquiring and carrying hidden, loaded weapons around public streets, buildings, restaurants, parks, and businesses.

*** Here’s an alarming example: A study by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that people licensed to carry guns in the first half of 2006 in Florida included more than 1,400 individuals who had pleaded guilty or no contest to felonies, 216 individuals with outstanding warrants, 128 people with active domestic violence injunctions against them, and six registered sex offenders. These people are known to be dangerous, and thanks to these weak laws, they are also armed. ***

• Voters overwhelmingly oppose permitless carry. According to a 2015 survey, 87% of American voters said they “opposed allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns in public if they don’t have a permit.”

THE BOTTOM LINE: Allowing people who have never passed a background check or fired a gun in their lives to carry hidden, loaded guns in public crowds as soon as they buy them makes our communities less safe.

Learn more: Read this fact sheet about Permitless Concealed Carry from Giffords.