Guns in Public Places

In recent years, the gun lobby has promoted a state legislative agenda that would ultimately allow anyone to carry a gun anywhere. As a result, legislators have considered bills that remove any and all limitations on gun carrying, which would allow guns in some of society’s most vulnerable spaces, like schools, public parks, and bars, and would let anyone carry a concealed handgun in public without a permit, even if they have a violent criminal record and haven’t undergone any training.

Everytown’s research has shown that expanding the areas where guns can be carried and the circumstances in which they can be used is only associated with greater harm. So-called Stand Your Ground laws, which encourage the use of deadly force outside the home, are associated with significantly higher justifiable homicide rates. After Georgia passed its Stand Your Ground law, the number of justifiable homicides in the states increased by 83 percent. In Florida, it tripled. This push towards allowing easy access to guns in a growing variety of public places has only resulted in a greater risk of gun violence, often justified by increasingly permissive laws.

Guns in Public Places

guns in public places
Fact Sheets

Arming Teachers Is a Dangerous Proposal

48 Items
Fact Sheets • The Gun Lobby • March 7, 2018

Stand Your Ground

Stand Your Ground laws upend centuries of traditional self-defense doctrine and are a threat to public safety by upending centuries of traditional self-defense doctrine. These laws encourage armed vigilantism by allowing a person to kill another person to defend himself, even in there is a safe and clear way to avoid the conflict.

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Fact Sheets • Guns in Public Places • February 23, 2018

Keep Guns Out of Elementary, Middle, and High Schools

Fact Sheets • Background Checks • February 1, 2018

The SHARE Act Is Dangerous and Unnecessary, Would Make It Easy to Buy Silencers Illegally

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Litigation Documents • Guns in Public Places • October 13, 2017

Everytown Files Brief in Support of Massachusetts’ Public Carry Licensing System (Weng v. Evans)

Everytown for Gun Safety filed this amicus brief in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in a case challenging Massachusetts' public carry licensing system as implemented by the cities of Boston and Brookline. Everytown's brief shows that Massachusetts' public carry licensing regime is consistent with a centuries-long Anglo-American tradition and clearly constitutional under the Second Amendment.

Also featured in:  Everytown Law  

Fact Sheets • The Gun Lobby • October 11, 2017

Guns on Campus

The gun lobby has made it a priority in recent years to pass laws that would allow guns on campuses across the country, even as the major stakeholders — from students and college presidents to school faculty — have resisted this legislative push.

Also featured in:  Guns in Public Places