Monday Map: The Right to Carry a Gun

Published November 10, 2008 @ 09:05AM PT

To follow up on the lively discussion of guns and crime this weekend, today's map shows the progress of laws allowing the concealed carry of weapons across the U.S. The map above tells the story, 48 states allow some time of concealed weapons. Only Illinois and Wisconsin don't allow any form of concealed carry. Click on the map for an animation showing the spread of these laws across the country over the last two decades.

Concealed carry laws seem to have broad support from state legislatures and the public. But the same question from Saturday's post still stands. Do guns reduce crime? Do guns in purses and holsters and cars reduce crime?

The National Rifle Association says violent crime is lower in states with concealed carry laws, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says it's higher.

These stats have been massaged and selectively cited by both sides. The NRA's argument comes back to right: we have the right to protect ourselves, we have the right to carry guns wherever we want.

The Brady Campaign seeks to impose controls without revoking our right. The group seeks to restrict guns from churches, schools, and the workplace. They also want to ensure that people with carrying licenses take safety courses and undergo a mental health check.

We can impose strict restrictions on gun ownership and carrying without taking away a right. Background checks and safety classes aren't too much to ask.

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Comments (11)

Which states DO NOT require a background check? Texas has very stringent policies for concealed carry that requires background checks, fingerprints submitted to the FBI and a 12 hour class with target qualification just to name a few. If you bounced a check in the last 5 years you can't get a concealed handgun license. Moreover, you have to renew every four years.

So, it would seem the strict restrictions mentioned in the last section have already been imposed...on the most crime free, law abiding, mentally stable people in the population.

Posted by Jeff B on 11/10/2008 @ 04:32PM PT
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Furthermore, the state of Texas does not allow concealed carry inside of churches, etc. Employees at any workplace are bound by their employment contract, which may or may not prohibit guns on the employers property. Furthermore, any business owner may prohibit concealed carry inside their extablishment by posting a sign. The brady brady claims here are straw arguments.

Also, there is a basic counter argument that is missing here. In areas that concealed carry is prohibited, you only stop people who obey the law. These are the people who also went through an extensive background check and a firearm proficiency test.

A criminal is not going to see a sign, saying that guns are prohibited, and stop carrying their weapons. Only law abiding people do!

Criminals are not going to stop carrying concealed weapons if you somehow take away concealed carry. Only law abiding people do!

Posted by Mark H on 11/10/2008 @ 11:53PM PT
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Furthermore, the state of Texas does not allow concealed carry inside of churches, etc. Employees at any workplace are bound by their employment contract, which may or may not prohibit guns on the employers property. Furthermore, any business owner may prohibit concealed carry inside their extablishment by posting a sign. The brady brady claims here are straw arguments.

Also, there is a basic counter argument that is missing here. In areas that concealed carry is prohibited, you only stop people who obey the law. These are the people who also went through an extensive background check and a firearm proficiency test.

A criminal is not going to see a sign, saying that guns are prohibited, and stop carrying their weapons. Only law abiding people do!

If somehow, you take away concealed carry, you will only stop people who obey the law from carring guns. Criminals, by definition, do not obey the law!

Posted by Mark H on 11/10/2008 @ 11:55PM PT
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If Guns do control crime rate then why does America have 1 of the highest gun death rates? America has over 76million guns and 30,000 people die a year to gun related deaths. And one of the ways that criminals get guns is by taking them from these law obeying citizens. At Most school shootings the kids get the guns from their parents. It is way to easy for anyone to get guns in the US. Dangerous mentally ill, criminals, children, etc.

Posted by Amanda Ross on 11/11/2008 @ 07:59PM PT
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"If Guns do control crime rate then why does America have 1 of the highest gun death rates?"

If European-style gun control reduces crime, why is it that certain countries in Europe that allow widespread gun use (in many cases even less restrictive than the United States) such as Switzerland have lower rates of violent crime than other countries in Europe with strict gun control laws or that have banned guns entirely?

Why is it that counties in the United States that have passed laws MANDATING that their citizens own and maintain firearms experience dramatic reductions in their crime rates?

Posted by Jason Martin on 11/07/2009 @ 05:11PM PT
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If Guns do control crime rate then why does America have 1 of the highest gun death rates? America has over 76million guns and 30,000 people die a year to gun related deaths. And one of the ways that criminals get guns is by taking them from these law obeying citizens. At Most school shootings the kids get the guns from their parents. It is way to easy for anyone to get guns in the US. Dangerous mentally ill, criminals, children, etc.

Posted by Amanda Ross on 11/11/2008 @ 07:59PM PT
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Amanda,
Where did you get your numbers? Like all personal property in this country, guns can and will be stolen. A friend of mine had his car stolen a couple of years ago. It was stolen by some kids that took it for a joy ride. They ended up wrapping it around a telephone pole and one died. Should we as a country strive to reduce/control vehicle ownership because they might get stolen and/or used to commit a crime? If I leave my car unlocked (or even if I lock it) in the mall parking lot this holiday season and it's stolen, then used in a bank robbery should I be held liable?

It is an absolute terrible tragedy for children to get a hold of a firearm and use it on themselves or others. Nobody is arguing that strict measures shouldn't be taken by responsible adults to educate and protect their children on the dangers of firearms.

However, the total number of violent crimes per 100,000 has gone from 746 in 1993 to 474 in 2006. If total gun sales were positively correlated to the violent crime rates, one would expect total sales year over year to decrease along with crime rate. They don't. During that time gun sales have remained relatively stable varying between 2.9 and 3.6 million a year. Concealed carry laws really started taking off in the mid 90's, so it does not seem that they can be positively correlated to an increase in crime rates according to the Bureau's numbers. But don't trust me, I encourage everyone to access what our tax dollars have labored to collect and run the numbers yourself. You can query and trend this info at the US Bureau of Justice website and at the ATF's website (they both have a statistics section). Happy data mining.

Posted by Jeff B on 11/11/2008 @ 09:47PM PT
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Amanda,

Just something to add to Jeff B's questions and comments:

A lot of people seem to ignore the case of cold-war era Switzerland, and what the gun policies were there. Please take a look at this. Lots of guns, yet very low crime and homicides.

Compare that with places like Jamaica, Mexico, Washington D.C. etc. with respect to their crime rates and gun policies.

Posted by Mark H on 11/11/2008 @ 11:23PM PT
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I live in the great state of Texas, formally Kansas City when i lived in kc i constantly carried a gun in my car usually AK47, for protection because criminals dont care about laws when it comes to guns, so i always carried a weapon for safety of my family but when i divorced and moved to texas i stopped carrying for fear of being arrested for carrying but in 2007 Texas passed a law concerning carrying guns in your vehicle as "If you are traveling you are permitted to carry a handgun without a liscense whether loaded or unloaded and as long as it is not in plain sight or under the drivers seat" I was very eccstatic about this law becasue there are alot of people out there who think they can start fights in a car without consequences recently i had a spat with an exgirlfriends boyfriend he thought he nd three other guys were gonna block my car and try to attack me with a baseball bat and a tire iron well needles to say thanks to the new carry law i was able to defend myself without having any violance happening and no future problems with these people because they know i carry and will protect my self at any cost

Posted by Les Sparks on 11/24/2008 @ 06:53PM PT
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Any attempt to stop law abiding citizens from their right to bear arms must be stopped. We live in a time when, it seems, critical thinking is at an all time low. Gun bans only create black markets for criminals to take advantage of, it does nothing to the law abiding citizen.

Posted by matthew jones on 04/06/2009 @ 03:56PM PT
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I believe we have sufficient laws on the books regarding guns because:

It is illegal for a convicted felon to posses a firearm.

It is illegal to allow a felon access to a firearm.

It is illegal for a person dishonorably discharged from the military to posses a firearm.

It is illegal for a mentally unstable person to posses a firearm.

It is illegal for a person with past or current domestic violence action against them to posses a firearm.

It is illegal to leave a firearm where a child can access it.

It is illegal to brandish a firearm in a threatening manner.

It is illegal to use a firearm in the commission of a crime.

It is illegal to commit armed robbery.

Murder is illegal.

In most cities, discharging a firearm is illegal.

Possession of an unregistered machine gun is a Felony, punishable by 20 or more years in Federal prison.

If someone discharges a firearm in self-defense, they are already legally liable for what each bullet hits.

Criminals, by definition, do not follow the laws of society.

Posted by Amir Mortal on 04/16/2009 @ 07:53PM PT
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Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.