Gun politics in the United States

The political issues surrounding guns in the United States is an especially contentious political topic in the United States. The degree to which firearms can or should be regulated has long been debated, and disagreements range from the practical —does gun ownership cause or prevent crime? —to the constitutional —how should one interpret the Second Amendment? —and the philosophical —which weapons, if any, does the government have the authority to control?

Concealed Carry, Licenses, and Open Carry

Recent changes in the political landscape have brought about legislative initiatives to make it legal for common citizens to carry concealed guns with them for defense. Most states have various requirements for training and licensing for concealed carry. The notable exception is Vermont, which has never had any such restrictions in its history. A handful of other states had liberalized concealed carry regulations, allowing almost all law-abiding adult citizens with appropriate training to obtain carry permits. The trend toward liberalizing concealed carry regulations, however, did not begin in earnest until 1987. In that year, Florida became the first major state to liberalize its concealed carry regulation. Many other states have followed, for a total of 37 states having such laws on the books as of April 2004. Notably, no state that has passed a shall-issue law has yet repealed it legislatively. However, Minnesota's shall-issue law was invalidated by a state appeals court in 2005 on grounds that the law was passed in violation of a provision in the state constitution that prohibited multi-issue legislation. The ruling was on appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, but became moot in May of that year when a new standalone shall-issue bill, virtually identical to the invalidated legislation, was passed by the legislature and signed into law.

Related Topics:
Vermont - 1987 - Florida - 2004 - Minnesota - 2005

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Like Vermont, Alaska has no requirement for a license or permit for any lawful gun owner to carry concealed handguns in public. However, unlike Vermont, Alaska has issued such permits to its residents in the past, and continues to issue new permits. There are three main reasons for this policy. First, several other states honor Alaska's permits, while no state (apart from Vermont and now Alaska) recognizes the concealed carry rights of non-residents without permits, even if carrying without a permit is allowed in the person's home state. Second, all concealed carry permits in the United States, as long as they require a criminal background check, make their holders exempt from most prosecutions under the much disputed federal Gun Free School Zones Act. Finally, Alaska's permit is one of a small number of state permits that meet the federal criteria to exempt their holders from federal background checks to purchase firearms.

Related Topics:
Alaska - Gun Free School Zones Act

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A state's laws regarding open carry cannot generally be inferred from its laws regarding concealed carry. Some states, for instance Arizona and Virginia, allow unlicensed open carry of handguns. Others, for instance Utah and Georgia, allow open carry only with a license; their licenses allow both concealed and open carry. Still other states, for instance Texas and Florida, categorically forbid open carry of handguns, even though they allow licensed concealed carry.

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A license to carry a concealed weapon is not necessarily a license to carry one anywere. As an example, in Montana, even holders of concealed weapon licenses cannot carry firearms into banks, schools, Federal government buildings, or any establishment that sells alcoholic beverages.

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The status of concealed carry laws in the USA has changed dramatically since 1986, as seen below:

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• 1986 - 8 shall-issue states, 20 may-issue, 21 no-issue, 1 unrestricted.
• 2004 - 38 shall-issue states, 6 may-issue, 4 no-issue, 2 unrestricted.

Definitions:

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• Shall issue—Authorities are required to issue permits to all individuals who meet the state's issuance criteria. This category is also generally interpreted to include states where authorities have very limited discretion in permit issuance.
• May issue—Authorities have broad discretion as to whether to issue a permit to a given individual. Some may-issue states are, for all practical purposes, no-issue. Other may-issue states have policies that vary radically from one political subdivision to another, and are considered by some a means for politicians and public officials to elicit campaign contributions and/or bribes. For example, at one time, suspected mafia members made up a significant fraction of the few people in New York City with CCW permits.
• No-issue—Concealed carry is prohibited to the general public.
• Unrestricted—No permit required for concealed carry.