The United States has the highest rate of gun ownership by civilians in the world. Depending on the state, guns may be allowed in churches, on college campuses, and even in bars. In this week’s New Yorker, Jill Lepore writes about the powerful gun lobby and the consequences of America’s attachment to deadly weapons. Below, a look at some of the more unusual—and, arguably, more dangerous—gun laws passed in recent years, and the states that passed them first:
Guns in bars
- First state to allow, and when: Tennessee, in 2009.
- Other states that now allow: Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, and Ohio have laws specifically allowing guns in bars. Twenty states, including New York and New Jersey, do not address the question at all, conceivably allowing people to carry guns into bars by default.
- Fun fact: Tennessee State Representative Curry Todd, the sponsor of the guns-in-bars law, was arrested in October, 2011, on charges of possessing a handgun while driving under the influence of alcohol.
Guns in churches
- First state to allow, and when: Not totally clear. (See below.)
- Other states that now allow: Guns are allowed in churches in twenty states as part of their “Right to Carry” laws. These laws—versions of them have been enacted in more than forty states—allow people to carry a handgun in public in a concealed manner. These laws typically start from a baseline of applying to all public spaces, but states can, and do, add restrictions for places such as houses of worship, government buildings, and educational institutions. Historically, people were allowed to carry weapons in many states. In the nineteen-twenties and thirties, many states adopted laws that prohibited the unlicensed concealed carrying of a gun. Vermont is the only state that did not adopt any statutes prohibiting or regulating the concealed carry of guns, and has no specific prohibition against carrying guns in churches, so it is, perhaps unintentionally, the first state to allow guns in churches.
- Fun fact: Virginia law states that weapons are allowed in churches unless a service is taking place, in which case they are only allowed if there is “good and sufficient reason.” The law does not go on to list possible reasons a gun might be needed during a church service.
Guns on college campuses
- First state to allow, and when: Utah, in 2004.
- Other states that now allow: As of now, only Utah and Mississippi explicitly allow guns on college campuses. However, in March of this year, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the state’s concealed-carry law applies to the University of Colorado, and struck down the state university’s ban on guns. Twenty-five states prohibit guns on campuses; twenty-three let the individual schools decide.
- Recent developments: Arizona’s legislature had been considering a bill that would have allowed people with concealed-carry permits to bring their guns onto college campuses; however, the bill’s sponsor recently declared it “dead.”
Guns at work
- First state to allow, and when: Oklahoma, in 2004.
- Other states that now allow: More than a dozen states now allow people to bring their gun to work, typically on the condition that the weapon remains stored in their vehicle.
- Fun fact: The Governor of Indiana signed a law that bans employers from telling their employees they can’t have guns in their cars on the job only two weeks after an Indiana employee was given fifteen years in prison for attempting (and failing) to shoot his boss after a meeting concerning his subpar performance.
