12 More States May OK Carrying Gun Without Permit

Bills are in the works in at least 12 states to allow residents to buy and carry concealed weapons without a permit, USA Today reports. Gun control advocates are naturally appalled. "They want a gun in every nook and cranny in society with no permission needed," fumes a Brady Campaign official. "This is just a recipe for disaster." But proponents point out that the four states that already allow carrying guns without a permit—Alaska, Arizona, Vermont, and Wyoming—have low crime rates.

"Gun-free zones kill people," argues the congressman pushing the bill in New Hampshire. Other states considering the move are Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, and South Dakota—where the sheriff of the largest county notes that between 30 and 40 of the 2,000 applications it currently sees a year are rejected. "Our viewpoint is, a good person will always be a good person," says the National Rifle Association's policy director. "They don't need a license to be a good person." (More gun control stories.)