Permitless-Carry Laws Make It Easier to Pack Heat in Red America
Handguns on picked-over gun-store shelves in Rockville, Md.
Photographer: Erick Gibson/Alamy
The high-profile legal troubles of the National Rifle Association may suggest a powerful organization on the ropes, but in statehouses, the pro-gun movement it helms is racking up victories. New laws are giving millions of Americans increasingly unfettered access to firearms even as gun violence rises across the country.
So far this year, five states—Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah—have passed permitless-carry laws, bringing the total number of states with such laws to 21. These statutes typically eliminate the need to complete training and obtain a license before carrying a concealed firearm in public, making it easier to carry a gun around than to cut hair or drive a car.