No proof that permitless gun carry law lowered crime
Bowling Green State University published a study in January concerning a law passed in June 2022 that permits citizens to carry firearms in public without a license. In the year since, we are told, there was “a significant decrease in crime incidents involving a firearm” in Ohio’s eight most populous cities.
Gun zealots will surely herald this study as proof that relaxed gun restrictions pose no risk, and Attorney General Dave Yost crows, “The surest takeaway is that it didn’t really have an impact on gun violence.”
Memo to AG Yost: The study isn’t comprehensive enough to be significant. It covered just one year prior to the law’s passage and one year after. More in-depth studies conclude that an increase in permitless carry leads to an increase in gun violence.
The American Journal of Epidemiology published in 2022 the results of a study that covered the change in gun laws for several states over 40 years. States that passed “shall issue” concealed carry laws (where law enforcement has little discretion to deny a license) saw a 9.5% increase in gun assaults during the first 10 years after the law was passed.
In 2022, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health published its findings concerning 36 states that weakened their concealed carry permit requirements from 1980 to 2019. The study measured the impact of shall issue laws in conjunction with: live-firearm training; discretion to deny a permit to an unstable applicant; and discretion to deny a permit if an applicant has a history of violence and/or other violent misdemeanor convictions.
States that changed their laws without including one or more of these provisions saw an average increase of 21.6 % in gun assaults and 34.9% increase in gun homicides compared to forecasted trends.
Between 1992 and 2017, according to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, permitless laws were associated with 29% higher rate of firearm homicides in the workplace.
Why the increase? One reason, likely, is that gun owners lack training and may be too prone to reach for a firearm in situations that don’t justify using a firearm.
Based on a survey conducted in 2013 by U.S Department of Justice, law enforcement recruits receive 168 hours of training in firearms, self-defense and use of force. Think about it—professionals are required to undergo firearm training, but civilians aren’t.
Even with the training they receive, law enforcement officers can still get it wrong.
NBC reported that 21 police officers were charged in 2021 with murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting. Three former Columbus law enforcement officers are facing trial for murder.
And we have plenty examples of civilians who have been arrested for the unjustified use of firearms.
Less restrictions on carrying firearms will mean more firearms on the street, and with no required training — nothing good can come of this. If trained professionals are capable of unjustified shootings, what makes us think that more guns for untrained firearm owners is a good idea?
Jack D’aurora is a partner with The Behal Law Group and produces a podcast Justus with Jack & Gonzo. He is a frequent Dispatch contributor.