Significant rise seen in firearm assaults in U.S. states relaxing conceal carry permit restrictions: study

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The average rate of assaults with firearms increased an average of 9.5 percent relative to forecasted trends in the first 10 years after 34 U.S. states relaxed restrictions on civilians carrying concealed firearms in public, a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found.

According to the study, moving to less restrictive laws was associated with a 24 percent increase in the rate of assaults with firearms (12.75 per 100,000) when individuals convicted of violent misdemeanors were eligible to obtain concealed-carry licenses.

The researchers also found that states with laws that had live-fire firearm safety training requirements did not see the significant increases in firearm assaults that were estimated for states that lacked such requirements.

For the findings published online on Sept. 20 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers identified 36 states that weakened their conceal carry permit requirements from 1980 to 2019. They excluded two states, Kansas and Missouri, due to other significant firearm laws changing around the same time.

The study comes against the backdrop of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in July that found New York's state law requiring that permittees have a proper cause or special need to obtain a concealed carry weapons permit as unconstitutional.