Half of US states permit citizens to carry guns without permits: Understanding America’s gun problems

By: Anshul Vipat

In allusion to the US's 2nd Amendment, gun rights organisations like the National Rifle Association have called this practice "constitutional carry" (the right to bear arms).

According to latest reports, more than half of the 50 states in United States of America (USA) have now allowed their citizens to carry guns without any license and permit. Alabama joined the long list of 26 states that authorise residents to carry concealed pistols without permits on January 1, 2023. States often grant concealed carry licences to its citizens after running a background check, which weeds out people with criminal records, and requiring a certain amount of training. In allusion to the US's 2nd Amendment, gun rights organisations like the National Rifle Association have called this practice "constitutional carry" (the right to bear arms). This occurs as gun purchases have exploded over the past two years due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Reformers are worried that it would result in more guns on the streets and potentially more violence.

The overall number of firearm-related deaths in the US increased to 45,222 in 2020, the highest amount the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has ever recorded since it began keeping track of such deaths in 1968. This corresponds to an average of 124 people each day dying from gun violence. Around 54 percent of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (24,292), while 43 percent were murders (19,384). The figure represents a 34 percent increase from 2019, and a 75 percent increase over the course of the previous decade. In 2017, some 39,773 died from gunshot injuries, an average of nearly 109 people each day. That year also saw country's worst mass shooting in a decade when 50 people were killed and over 500 wounded in Las Vegas.

Source: Gun Violence Archive

More than 600 mass shootings were reported in the United States in 2022 alone, according to data from the Washington based Gun Violence Archive, which is more than twice as many as the 336 mass shootings that were recorded four years earlier. A mass shooting is any incident in which four or more persons are shot or killed, excluding the shooter.

Source: Small Arms Survey

A 2018 report by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey discovered that US gun owners had 393.3 million firearms, which is more than the nation's current population of 330 million. United States also has the highest firearms per 100 residents’ ratio. And the figure is increasing. According to GVA, 7.5 million US adults - just under 3 percent of the population - became first new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. About half of new gun owners in that time period were women while 40 percent where blacks.

The elimination of the requirement for a state permit for carrying a gun is a major cause of worry for the people living in the United States amid rising instances of gun violence.