Public Opinion on Carrying Firearms in Public Places 

Using data from a nationally representative on-line survey conducted in 2015, authors Julia Wolfson and Stephen Teret from Johns Hopkins and HICRC’s Deborah Azrael and Matthew Miller examined US public opinion about the public places where legal gun owners should be allowed to carry firearms.  Fewer than 20% of respondents supported gun carrying in schools, bars or sports stadiums.  In no location, including restaurants, service settings, retail stores, college campuses, places of worship, and government buildings, did even a third of Americans support gun carrying.  These views contrast sharply with the current trend in state legislatures to expand the locations where individuals can legally carry guns.  The article appears online in the American Journal of Public Health.