2023 was an excellent year for permitless carry gun laws, with the U.S. officially becoming a constitutional carry-majority nation. As of 2021, there were 16 states with NRA Constitutional Carry, but in 2023, that number increased to 27.
According to NRA executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre, Americans in 11 states stood with freedom and the NRA. Constitutional carry laws permit legal residents to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.
This effectively eliminates the need for qualifying residents to ask the government for permission to carry. 2023 ended with 27 states, including Georgia and Florida, passing permitless carry laws.
When Ron DeSantis signed the law, which took effect in July, he said: “Constitutional Carry is in the books.” Not long after Florida joined the movement, Nebraska followed with Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signing his state’s version into law.
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“Signing this bill upholds the promise I made to voters to our constitutional rights and promote commonsense, conservative values,” Pillen said.
“I appreciate the hard work of those senators who supported this legislation, particularly that of Sen. Brewer, who led this charge and carried it through to the end.”
The NRA-backed law took effect in September. The states that now have constitutional carry laws include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
With the increase in states supporting constitutional carry, the number of Americans with concealed carry permits fell slightly in 2023.
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John Lott is the founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC). He says that despite the dip, more Americans are carrying concealed firearms due to the laws.
Lott has been tracking the number of concealed permits since 1998. He says: “It’s not very much, but you see two different types of states. In the constitutional carry states, there was a drop. In all the other states, there was an increase.”
According to a CPRC study, there was a 0.5% decrease in concealed carry holders across the U.S. in 2023. 2022’s rate was not so low. “The main reason for the drop is that the number of permits declines gradually in the constitutional carry states even though it is clear that more people are legally carrying,” the study says.
This is because obtaining a concealed carry permit in states without constitutional carry laws can be expensive. And by eliminating those heavy costs, more people will carry.
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Lowering costs also changes the “mix of people who get permits” and leads to “a lot more permits issued in heavy minority, poor zip codes,” where crime often lurks, allowing law-abiding residents to protect themselves better.
LaPierre continued in his statement that the NRA will continue supporting constitutional carry legislation until it is the “law of the land.”
“With NRA Constitutional Carry, law-abiding citizens can defend themselves without having government permission first. That is why NRA won’t stop until Constitutional Carry is the law of the land,” LaPierre said.
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