State gun laws and public opinion
Abstract
Public opinion substantially favors allowing concealed carry of handguns with a permit or license required. This is true of both a Constitutional right under the Second Amendment and as a matter of law. In contrast, there is substantial majority opposition to laws allowing concealed carry without a licensing requirement.
Nationwide, 66% of those with an opinion favor a Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment includes a right to possess a gun outside the home. As a matter of law, 62% favor laws that allow concealed carry of handguns with a license.
Concealed carry without a license requirement is supported nationwide by 19% and opposed by 81%.
In the 25 states with permitlesss concealed carry laws, a minority of 28% of adults favor such laws, while 72% are opposed to them, based on a May 2022 Marquette Law School national survey.
State surveys in Texas and Tennessee, states with unlicensed concealed carry laws, found 34% and 39% favored these laws, respectively, with 59% opposed in both states.
State gun laws
In the following analysis, state gun laws are grouped into four categories.
Twenty-five states have adopted laws allowing “permitless” concealed carry, requiring no license or permit to have a concealed weapon. (This includes states that have adopted such a law that will go into effect by Jan. 1, 2023.)
Ten states have “shall issue” laws that give no discretion over issuing a license or permit to an applicant meeting the criteria specified by law.
Seven states have “shall issue” laws that allow some discretion over issuing a license or permit if the applicant is judged to raise some public safety concerns.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have “may issue” laws that give authorities greater lattitude in determining when to issue a license or permit.
Classifications of states were based on these websites which were checked for consistency:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry_in_the_United_States
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/guns-in-public/concealed-carry/
https://concealedguns.procon.org/state-by-state-concealed-carry-permit-laws/
Public opinion on concealed carry laws
The Marquette Law School Poll surveyed 1,004 adults nationwide May 9-19, 2022. The margin of error is +/-3.9 percentage points. The survey focused on the Supreme Court and included three items on opnion about the Second Amendment and concealed carry laws. The survey began before the mass shooting that killed 10 people in Buffalo, NY, and was completed before the mass shooting that killed 21 in a Uvalde, TX elementary school.
Full results of the Marquette Law School poll are available at https://law.marquette.edu/poll/2022/05/26/detailed-results-of-the-marquette-law-school-supreme-court-poll-may-9-19-2022-2/
Second Amendment
The Supreme Court is set to decide New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which addresses whether the Second Amendment protects the right to possess a gun outside the home.
The survey asked
Do you favor or oppose the following possible future Supreme Court decisions, or haven’t you heard enough about this to have an opinion?: Rule that the 2nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” protects the right to carry a gun outside the home.
Among those with an opinion, 66% favor such a ruling and 34% are opposed.
Opinion on this extension of Second Amendment interpretation to include guns outside the home is more supportive in states with less restrictive gun laws, with large majorities favoring expanded rights to possess a gun, and less supportive in the most restrictive states, where opinion is evenly divided. These results are shown in Table 1.
| State gun laws | Favor | Oppose |
|---|---|---|
| Permitless | 77 | 23 |
| Shall issue | 70 | 30 |
| Shall issue w limits | 64 | 36 |
| May issue | 48 | 52 |
Concealed carry with a license
The Marquette Law School poll also asked about laws concerning concealed carry. Respondents were asked about licensed concealed carry laws:
Do you favor or oppose laws that allow most people to obtain a license to carry concealed handguns?
These laws were favored by 62% and opposed by 38% nationwide.
Opinion by state gun laws finds over 60% majorities in favor of such laws in most states, and with a narrow majority in favor in the states with the most restrictive laws concerning concealed carry, as shown in Table 2.
| State gun laws | Favor | Oppose |
|---|---|---|
| Permitless | 65 | 35 |
| Shall issue | 66 | 34 |
| Shall issue w limits | 64 | 36 |
| May issue | 53 | 47 |
Concealed carry without a license (“Permitless”)
Half of the states now allow concealed carry without requiring a license or a permit. Respondents were asked
Do you favor or oppose laws that allow most people to carry concealed handguns without needing to obtain a license?
Opinion on this law is much more opposed than for licensed concealed carry. Nineteen percent favor unlicensed carry laws, while 81% are opposed to such laws.
Table 3 shows opinion on these laws by state gun laws. It is striking that even in the states that allow permitless concealed carry, 72% of adults are opposed to such a law. Opposition to these laws inceases in states with more restrictive gun laws.
| State gun laws | Favor | Oppose |
|---|---|---|
| Permitless | 28 | 72 |
| Shall issue | 19 | 81 |
| Shall issue w limits | 16 | 84 |
| May issue | 10 | 90 |
Comparison with other national and state polls
National polls
In the Pew American Trends Panel wave 87, April 5-11, 2021 respondents were asked
Please indicate whether you would favor or oppose the following proposals about gun policy: Allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit
In the Pew survey, permitless carry was favored by 20% and opposed by 79%, with 1% refusing to answer.
The May 2022 Marquette Law School national survey question asks
Do you favor or oppose laws that allow most people to carry concealed handguns without needing to obtain a license?
In the MU Law Poll permitless carry was favored by 19% and opposed by 80%, with 1% refusing to answer.
Pew does not release the state code as part of the public dataset, so it is not possible to merge the Pew data with state laws.
State polls
This is not a comprehensive collection of state polls on unlicensed concealed carry but is illustrative of state opinion in one “shall issue” state and two states with permitless concealed carry laws.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a “shall issue” state that does require a license for concealed carry. The Marquette Law School poll of Wisconsin registered voters has asked about both licensed and unlicensed concealed carry. The results for licensed concealed carry are shown in Table 4 and for unlicensed carry in Table 5.
| Poll dates | Favor | Oppose | Don’t know | Refused |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/21-24/16 | 63 | 31 | 5 | 1 |
| 1/8-12/20 | 70 | 25 | 5 | 0 |
| 10/26-31/21 | 62 | 29 | 8 | 1 |
| 4/19-24/22 | 69 | 26 | 5 | 0 |
| Poll dates | Favor | Oppose | Don’t know | Refused |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/26-31/21 | 20 | 76 | 3 | 0 |
| 4/19-24/22 | 16 | 82 | 2 | 0 |
Texas
Texas allows concealed carrry without requiring a license.
A Univerity of Texas/Texas Tribune poll conducted in April 2021 asked
Should adults be allowed to carry handguns in public without licenses or permits?
This was supported by 34% and opposed by 59% with 6% saying the don’t know.
Link: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/03/texas-voters-legislature-poll/
Tennessee
Tennessee allows concealed carrry without requiring a license.
A Vanderbilt University Tennessee poll in May 2021 asked
Do you approve or disapprove of a law that would make it legal for people age 21 and older to carry a handgun without a permit in Tennessee?
Thirty-nine percent approved of this law, while 59% disapproved, with 1 percent saying don’t know.
Link: Q22 https://www.vanderbilt.edu/csdi/Spring_2021_topline_final.pdf