No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Guests with Guns: Public Support for “No Carry” Defaults on Private Land
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 January 2021
Abstract
A nationally representative survey of 2000 American adults shows broad support for prohibiting gun-possession on private land without the landowner's explicit permission. Many states have laws which permit concealed weapon carry unless explicitly prohibited by the landowner, but our survey suggests statistically-significant majorities would prefer “no carry” defaults with regard to homeowners, employers, and retailers. While respondents who are Republican, male, or gun owners are more likely to support “carry” defaults, we find that the majoritarian rejection of “carry” defaults does not tend to vary by region or state. However, our survey does find majority support for a default right to possess guns in rented property and on an employer's parking lot. Respondents across all contexts also report substantial ignorance or misinformation about the law. Landowners who don't know or mistakenly believe that concealed carry is, by default, prohibited on their land may be less able to protect themselves by explicitly prohibiting such third-party possession.
- Type
- Online Articles
- Information
- Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 48 , Issue S4: Gun Violence in America: An Interdisciplinary Examination , Winter 2020 , pp. 183 - 190
- Copyright
- Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2020
References
See generally, Concealed Carry, Giffords Law Center, available at <https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/guns-in-public/concealed-carry> (last visited October 8, 2020).+(last+visited+October+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Korobkin, R., “The Status Quo Bias and Contract Default Rules,” Cornell Law Review 83 (1998): 608–687, at 615.Google Scholar
Ayres, I. and Gertner, R., “Filling Gaps in Incomplete Contracts: An Economic Theory of Default Rules,” Yale Law Journal 99 (1989): 87-130, at 93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See generally, Ayres, I., “Regulating Opt-Out: An Economic Theory of Altering Rules,” Yale Law Journal 121 (2012): 2032-2116.Google Scholar
Ayres, I. and Vars, F., Weapon of Choice: Fighting Gun Violence While Respecting Gun Rights (Harvard University Press, forthcoming).Google Scholar
See Concealed Carry, supra note 1.Google Scholar
La. Stat. Ann. § 1379.3 (West 2020).Google Scholar
S.C. Code Ann. § 23-31-225 (West 2019).Google Scholar
D.C. Code Ann. § 7-2509.07 (West 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ark. Code. Ann. § 5-73-306 (West 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alaska Stat. Ann. § 11.61.220 (West 2019).Google Scholar
Tex. Parks & Wild. Code Ann. § 62.012 (West 2019).Google Scholar
N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 14-159.7 (West 2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mo. Ann. Stat. § 569.145 (West 2020).Google Scholar
Vt. Stat. Ann. Tit. 10, § 5201 (West 2019).Google Scholar
See, e.g., Mo. Ann. Stat. § 571.107 (West 2020).Google Scholar
See, e.g., supra note 12.Google Scholar
See, e.g., Miss. Code Ann. § 45-9-101 (West 2019); Tex. Penal Code Ann. §30.06 (West 2019).Google Scholar
See, e.g., Wis. Stat. Ann. § 175.60 (West 2019).Google Scholar
Location Restrictions, Giffords Law Center, available at <https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/guns-in-public/location-restrictions/> (last visited October 8, 2020).+(last+visited+October+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 237.106 (West 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See, e.g., Minn. Stat. Ann. § 624.714 (West 2019).Google Scholar
See, e.g., Miss. Code. Ann. §45-9-51 (West 2019).Google Scholar
D.C. Code Ann. § 22-4503.02 (West 2019).Google Scholar
A more detailed explanation can be found in the online appendix. YouGov has also been used in, Ayres, I. and Vars, F., “Gun Owners Support the Right Not to Bear Arms,” Emory Law Review (forthcoming).Google Scholar
The full survey can be found in the Online Appendix.Google Scholar
The survey also randomized the order in which vignettes were presented and subjects were randomized into two groups: in one group, “No” appeared first throughout the survey, and in the other, “Yes” appeared first (with “I don't know” always appearing at the end).Google Scholar
Analogous results by state are available in Online Appendix Table A4. We also present similar tables for beliefs about what the law is by region and state in Online Appendix Tables A5 and A6, respectively.Google Scholar
Appendix Table A7 presents linear regressions testing for treatment effects on each question — both with and without controls — and finds statistically significant treatment effects. Specifically, the “explicit consent” group was 10.5 percentage points less likely than the “No Trespassing” to say that the law should by default allow such hunting and 33 percentage points less likely to believe that that their state had such a law. This aspect of the experiments shows that altering rules can materially impact public support for the law. See Ayres, supra note 5.Google Scholar
60.8% of individuals said businesses should have immunity if they prevented individuals from carrying guns, while 61.1% said businesses should have immunity if they allowed individuals to carry guns. These differences were not statistically significant (p. > .8).+.8).>Google Scholar
The landowner-frame made respondents less likely to support tenants carrying firearms in rented property and the “carry” default for hunting on private land. See Appendix Table A7.Google Scholar
Gangitano, A. and Wong, S., “Here Are the Gun Policies for America's Largest Retailers,” Hill, September 7, 2019.Google Scholar
Corkery, M., “Retailers Walk Thin Line by Asking, Not Telling, Shoppers Not to Carry Guns,” New York Times, September 9, 2019.Google Scholar
See, e.g., Miller, J.R., “Tenant Allegedly Shot Landlord in the Head Over $30 Rent Hike,” New York Post, March 8, 2018.Google Scholar
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, (2008).Google Scholar
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., et al. v. City of New York, et. al., 590 U.S. __, (2020).Google Scholar
Concealed Deadly Weapons Legal: Hearing on H.B. 102 Before the H. State Affairs Standing Comm., 2003 Leg., 23th Sess., (Ak. April 8, 2003) (statement by Lauree Hugonin, Executive Director of ANDVSA).Google Scholar
See Stolen Guns Pose a Tremendous Risk to Public Safety, Everytown, available at <https://everytownresearch.org/stolen-guns-pose-tremendous-risk-public-safety> (October 8, 2020).+(October+8,+2020).>Google Scholar