Permitless carry, otherwise known as constitutional carry, refers to legally carrying a gun openly or concealed without a permit issued by the government. Each state has the jurisdiction for allowing permitless carry, and recently, the laws have been changing.
About Permitless Carry
The Second Amendment, depending on your interpretation, allows Americans to carry guns with no restrictions. However, the Supreme Court of the United States in 2008 placed the jurisdiction on each state after the District of Columbia v. Heller case.
Since that decision, many states have decided to become permitless carry, with some of them changing over in the New Year. The following states have already become permitless carry states:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Idaho (only for residents of the state)
- Kansas
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Puerto Rico
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wyoming (only for residents of the state)
Missouri will allow permitless carry starting January 1, 2017 for anyone 18 years or older. All other states require gun owners to be 21 years or older to carry without a permit.
More About Missouri’s Permitless Carry Law
With permitless carry, anyone who owns a gun can carry it openly or concealed. Since no permit will be required, there is some concern over safety training. When gun owners needed a permit, they would need to complete a safety training course. Without that requirement, many people will likely bypass the course.
Background checks from federally licensed firearms dealers will apparently still be performed. But the new law eliminates the requirement to get a concealed carry permit and complete training before carrying.* The fear that many people won’t take the safety training course has many people concerned. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Sharp said, “I’m a gun proponent. I’m a big believer of the Constitution but I think people ought to at least be trained and have knowledge of what the laws are when it comes to using and carrying a gun. What bothers me is the new law gives those that we wouldn’t have allowed to have a concealed carry permit, gives them the opportunity now to carry one.”
These two factors in the new permitless law is of great concern to many people, but they are factors that will need to be swallowed (as hard as it may be to do). With permitless carry, anyone can carry. All that anyone can do once this takes effect is see how it affects the gun-related violence and gun-related accident rates. It’s likely this won’t be the case, though. With so many others states already functioning on a permitless carry law without issue, Missouri will likely follow a similar path.
*This article has been updated to clarify language in the original article pertaining to the background check.
