Ranking Concealed Carry States
In the second and third editions of More Guns, Less Crime, I have made a big point about how different right-to-carry states are. The application fee, training time, and places that you could carry a concealed handgun were the differences that I concentrated on. To me the important consideration, was trying to figure out the permit issuance rate and how that is changing over time. Other factors that could be include reciprocity and how difficult it is to own guns.
Guns & Ammo editors have used many of these same factors to rank concealed handgun laws by state. Here are the top 15 states in their ranking.
Guns & Ammo editors have used many of these same factors to rank concealed handgun laws by state. Here are the top 15 states in their ranking.
1. Arizona
2. Utah
3. Wyoming
4. New Hampshire
5. Vermont
6. Alaska
7. Pennsylvania
8. Alabama
9. North Dakota
10. Indiana
11. Virginia
12. Montana
13. Kentucky
14. Texas
15. MissouriThe numbers assigned here seem pretty arbitrary. For example, my research has found a large drop in permit issuance when you go from 8 to 9 hours of training as you are making the people have to come in for training on multiple days, but Guns & Ammo editors assume that anything from 7 to 9 hours is effectively the same. I would probably use the percentage of the adult population with a permit as my rough measure, but at least the ranking is suggestive and helpful.
Labels: ConcealedCarry
posted by John Lott at 3:42 AM
1 Comments:
This is a ridiculous ranking. Because of the Federal Gun Free School Zones Act, reciprocity is of little value and dangerously lulls people into situations where they face very real judicial peril. And how is it that Washington state, that doesn't require any classes or certification to obtain a concealed carry permit, is ranked below Texas?
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