No. of gun owners who carry their arms daily doubled in 4 years, study

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
28 Nov 2022 12:26
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A recent study released in the American Journal of Public Health shows that 6 million Americans carried their handgun daily in 2019 compared to 3 million in 2015.

Handgun owners who carried their arms daily doubled in 4 years.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Washington, the number of people who carried their gun daily has doubled in just four years, from 3 million in 2015 to 6 million in 2019.

While the number of gun owners who said they carried their arms within the last 30 days was about 3 out of 10, among them, 4/10 carried them on a daily basis.

Published earlier this month in the American Journal of Public Health, the research was titled: “Trend in Loaded Handgun Carrying Among Adult Handgun Owners in the United States, 2015‒2019”.

The data that was collected from the National Firearms Survey, and included over 2,300 gun owners, also revealed that the number of handgun owners that carried their arms at least once a month has increased from 9 million back in 2015 to around 16 million in 2019, while 72 percent of them stated they carry it for personal protection reasons.

Despite the rising number of individuals that are carrying their arms in public, the study shows that they represent less than 50 percent of the total number of handgun owners.

Constitutional carry states vs Shall issue states vs May issue states

According to the USCCA (U.S. Concealed Carry Association), "May-issue states have discretion in handing out concealed weapons permits: If you live in one of these states and meet all of the requirements (background check, training, etc.) you may be given a permit or you may not."

"In a shall-issue state, if you meet all of the requirements, you shall be given a license. While this is typically easier than in a may-issue state, it still involves an application process and wait time."

"In a constitutional carry state, there is no permit (or at least one isn’t mandatory). There may still be a permit available for reciprocity’s sake though."

The published report states that the percentage of gun owners in permitless carry states (constitutional carry states) and “shall issue” states who carried their arms is almost the same, while it is lower in "may issue" states.