Due to the increase in the incidents of shooting in the USA, the number of adults keeping handguns with them has augmented as well. The number got doubled in 2019 as compared to 2015. As per a study of the University of Washington, it was found out in the National Firearms Survey of 2019 that 1.6 crore adults were keeping loaded handguns with them, while in 2015, such people numbered 90 lakhs.
The study further states that mostly, handguns are being carried by people in the states where the laws are lax, here, 1/3rd of the handgun owners carried their handguns along with them, while in the states where the rules are strict, only 20% were doing the same. Study heads Dr Ali Rohani Rehbar and Professor Bartley Dobb said that a large spike in the number of people carrying handguns with them has been witnessed. During the last two decades, the states have provided relaxations in laws related to carrying handguns along. In more than 20 states, there is no need to have a permit in order to carry the handgun along.
Back in 1990, there was only one such state where the permit was not required, and in all the other states, the legal requirement of the permit was strict. In New York’s law, there was a need to state a valid reason for a handgun license, which, the Supreme Court had noted to be a violation of the right to possess arms. After the court’s verdict, some states have made relaxations in the laws concerning carrying handguns.
