“Concealed carry is the practice of discreetly having a weapon, usually lethal, on one’s person in a public space. Several states including Georgia, Kansas, and Arkansas are now allowing guns in many more public facilities including places of worship, sporting events, and even college campuses.
Some gun rights activists like Jennifer Baker, spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, are saying that 2017 is going to be a very successful year for gun rights.
For many years, the National Rifle Association has been pushing as many boundaries with gun rights as possible. Gun rights activists succeeded in legalizing concealed carry in the United States in the mid to late 1990’s and have since been pushing for more and more places for concealed weapons to be allowed.
Many studies have been done recently showing a near 50/50 divide in peoples’ opinions on the new laws. About half of United States citizens feel that stricter gun control is more important while the others feel that their rights to bear arms top in priority.
However, studies show that pushing these concealed carry laws to allow guns onto college campuses doesn’t very well with most college students.
There are some rules and regulations with some of these laws. In Georgia, the new laws permit students to carry their concealed weapons into classrooms, but not dormitories. In Tennessee, concealed guns can be brought into public spaces like bus stations and parks, but if authorities choose to use metal detectors and employ security staff, the concealed carry can be avoided in these areas.
The Supreme Court came to a decision to ban all weapons in courthouses in Iowa after the new gun laws allowed for concealed carry in the Capital.
Some of the more Democratic states are pushing for more regulations statewide. Last Thursday, Hawaii enacted a new law that requires the notifying the authorities if someone who is not permitted to own a firearm attempts to purchase one anyway.
Unfortunately for gun regulation advocates, it is also getting increasingly easier for people to buy guns online. Firearms, ammunition, hunting gear, and other accessories are sold in online gun stores all over the web.
Another unfortunate event for gun regulation advocates; a federal judge recently blocked a proposed Californian gun control measure that would prohibit permitted concealed gun carriers from possessing magazines that held more than 10 bullets at a time. The federal judge that blocked this motion claimed it would turn thousands of otherwise lawful, firearm carrying citizens into criminals.
There seems to be a trend of these gun rights laws being passed and gun regulation laws being shot down in many of the GOP (Grand Old Party aka the Republican Party) controlled states.
Although many states are passing more lax gun rights laws, some are still doing what they can do keep restrictions as high as possible. Sharon Watts, the founder of the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an anti-gun violence group, said that this year while this year was excellent for killing bad gun lobby bills, but that “the bills that did get through, we helped water those down.”
