Guests with Guns: Public Support for 'No Carry' Defaults on Private Land

13 Pages Posted: 7 Jul 2020

See all articles by Ian Ayres

Ian Ayres

Yale University - Yale Law School; Yale University - Yale School of Management

Spurthi Jonnalagadda

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: June 10, 2020

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.

Keywords: Gun Policy, Concealed Carry, Right-to-carry, Defaults

Suggested Citation

Ayres, Ian and Jonnalagadda, Spurthi, Guests with Guns: Public Support for 'No Carry' Defaults on Private Land (June 10, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3623643 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3623643

Ian Ayres (Contact Author)

Yale University - Yale Law School ( email )

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Yale University - Yale School of Management

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P.O. Box 208200
New Haven, CT 06520-8200
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Spurthi Jonnalagadda

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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