I recently came across an interesting post on the Guns & Ammo site where they decided to rank the top 50 states that were best for concealed carry. The evaluation was based on a point system based on a number of criteria including:
- Permit Issuance
- Reciprocity
- Application Fee
- Stand Your Ground/Castle Doctrine
- Training Time
- Duty to Inform
- Pre-Emption of Home-Rule
- Permit Issued to Non-Residents
The results were interesting. We are located in NC and I’ve always felt that NC was a leading state for CCW. However, the G&A ranking had us at #27 out of 50, which seemed a little high to me as I expected us to rank lower on the scale.
However, as you read more into the “ratings system” used by G&A, you begin to see some bias in the system. For example, G&A had previously rated the 2013 Best States for Gun Owners, and those ratings played a part in the concealed carry ratings. You also learn that G&A is giving a significant amount of weight to states that don’t have a formal CCW licensing program in favor of states with unregulated CCW permit rules. As a matter of fact, states with “Permitless or Unrestricted” requirements for CCW received the highest overall scores.
It’s an interesting read and worth taking a look at. Here’s the link if you’d like to see where your state ranked on the list.
