The most comprehensive and rigorous study of concealed carry laws found that in states with weak permitting laws, violent crime rates were 13% to 15% higher than predicted had such laws not been in place. *5

Weak concealed-carry permitting laws are also associated with 11% higher rates of homicide committed with handguns compared with states with stronger permitting systems. *6

A study of states that adopted permitless concealed carry laws found that such states experienced a 13% increase in fatal and nonfatal police shootings of civilians compared to what would have been expected had stronger carrying standards remained in place. *7

*5 John J. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, and Kyle D. Weber, “Right‐to‐Carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State‐Level Synthetic Control Analysis,” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, no. 2 (2019): 198–247.

*6 Michael Siegel, et al., “Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 12 (2017): 1923–1929

*7 Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Officer-Involved Shootings and Concealed Carry Weapons Permitting Laws: Analysis of Gun Violence Archive Data, 2014—2020,” Journal of Urban Health (2022).

Researchers have suggested that the presence of visible firearms may alter behavior and increase aggressive and violent behaviors.*1 Multiple studies show that restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons can increase public safety.

For example, recent analyses have shown that states with weak standards for concealed carry have higher rates of violent crime*2 and gun homicides *3 than would be expected if the states had stricter standards for public carry.

White Supremacists have long used firearms—and permissive open carry laws—to threaten and intimidate others, with examples of such violence going back to the Reconstruction era. *4

In 2017, a group of white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, openly carrying military-style rifles as a means to intimidate and suppress the Constitutional rights of others. *5

White supremacists have also exploited weak open carry laws to threaten and intimidate at other rallies across the country,6 as well as in front of houses of worship7 and electoral campaign offices. *8

*1 Arlin J. Benjamin Jr., Sven Kepes, and Brad J. Bushman, “Effects of Weapons on Aggressive Thoughts, Angry Feelings, Hostile Appraisals, and Aggressive Behavior: A Meta-analytic Review of the Weapons Effect Literature,” Personality and Social Psychology Review (2017); Arlin James Benjamin Jr. and Brad J. Bushman, “The Weapons Priming Effect,” Current Opinion in Psychology 12 (2016): 45-48; David Hemenway, Mary Vriniotis, and Matthew Miller, “Is an Armed Society a Polite Society? Guns and Road Rage,” Accident Analysis & Prevention 38, no. 4 (2006): 687-695.

*2 John J. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, and Kyle D. Weber, “Right‐to‐Carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State‐Level Synthetic Control Analysis.” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, no. 2 (2019): 198–247.

*3 Michael Siegel, et al., “Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 12 (2017): 1923–1929.

*4 Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (New York: Harper and Row, 1988).

*5 David Frum, “The Chilling Effect of Openly Displayed Firearms,” The Atlantic, August 16, 2017, https://bit.ly/2w2dZgK.

*8 Emily Tate, “Armed Trump Supporters Protest In Front Of Democrat’s Campaign Office,” The Huffington Post, October 14, 2016, https://bit.ly/2LLxR0O.

The implementation of Florida’s stand your ground law was associated with a 32% increase in firearm homicide rates and a 24% increase in overall homicide rates. *2

Importantly, researchers found that Florida’s stand your ground law increased both justifiable and unlawful homicide rates. *3

The state’s stand your ground law had the largest negative impact on neighborhoods that initially had the lowest homicide rates before the law was enacted. *4

In 79% of Florida Stand Your Ground cases, the assailant could have retreated to avoid the confrontation, and in 68% of cases, the person killed was unarmed. *5

*2 David K. Humphreys, Antonio Gasparrini, and Douglas J. Wiebe, “Evaluating the Impact of Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ Self-defense Law on Homicide and Suicide by Firearm: an Interrupted Time Series Study,” JAMA Internal Medicine 177, no. 1 (2017): 44–50

*3 David K. Humphreys, Antonio Gasparrini, and Douglas J. Wiebe, “Association Between Enactment of a ‘Stand Your Ground’ Self-defense Law and Unlawful Homicides in Florida,” JAMA Internal Medicine 177, no. 10 (2017): 1523–1524.

*4 Benjamin Ukert, Douglas J. Wiebe, and David K. Humphreys, “Regional Differences in the Impact of the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law in Florida,” Preventive Medicine 115 (2018): 68–75.

*5 Robert J. Spitzer, “Stand Your Ground Makes No Sense,” The New York Times, May 4, 2015, https://nyti.ms/2CcMW4y.

update definitions to modernize what actually constitutes a pistol, a rifle, and an AOW.