Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly oppose dropping concealed-carry gun license rule

The poll results on concealed-carry permits runs counter the views of a majority of Pennsylvania state lawmakers.

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Seven out of 10 Pennsylvania voters oppose eliminating the state licensing requirement to carry a concealed weapon, according to the latest Franklin & Marshall College poll.

Among them are 65-year-old Lawrence County resident Coleen Myers who doesn’t like that anyone can carry a concealed weapon, and 36-year-old Joseph McCall of Philadelphia who sees it as a safety check.

“I just think there should be a level of oversight and assurance by the state that people that have that privilege can prove they can exercise the minimum safety requirements and responsibility to safely do that,” said McCall, who was among the 490 registered voters who participated in the F&M survey that touched on a multitude of topics.

The poll results on concealed-carry permits runs counter the views of a majority of Pennsylvania state lawmakers. In November, the General Assembly put a bill on Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk to lift the requirement that individuals must obtain a special permit every five years to carry a gun concealed on one’s person or in a car.

Wolf vetoed the bill, calling it “harmful legislation that puts public safety at risk.”

Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson County, who sponsored that bill that couldn’t secure enough votes to override the governor’s veto, said he didn’t expect the results drawn by the poll question.

The opposition broke down to 56% strongly opposed and 14% somewhat opposed to ending a requirement that has been on the books in Pennsylvania in one form or another since the 1930s. The current requirement has been in place since 1988.

“The Legislature quite honestly does do pretty good at reflecting the will of the people so the poll results actually surprise me,” Dush said. “If it was among people who are active within the community which carries concealed, I know the sentiment [to constitutional, or permit-less, carry] is pretty strong.”

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said they didn’t own a gun and 50% favored more laws regulating gun ownership.

The poll question on permit-less carry was worded this way: “The state House approved a bill in 2021 that would allow all handgun owners to carry a concealed weapon on their person or in a car without needing a concealed carry license, which would end a longstanding state requirement. Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose eliminating concealed carry licensing in the state?”

Val Finnell, Pennsylvania director of Gun Owners of America, took issue with the words “longstanding state requirement” in the question.

“It’s phrased in such a way that it could lead to more people being opposed to constitutional carry,” he said. “But I think after you educate people on the issue, you really let them know what’s it’s all about, I think you’ll get a different answer.”

He pointed out 21 states passed constitutional, or permit-less, carry laws “and there really haven’t been any issues with this.”

The concealed carry law essentially turns the constitutional right to keep and bear arms into a $20 tax paid to the sheriff to do a background check, Finnell said. The fallacy for those who support that requirement is that it will stop criminals from breaking the law, he said.

“They already intend to break the law,” he said. “Licensing requirements aren’t going to prevent that.”

He called concealed-carry permits an unfortunate “added obstacle to people who are lawful gun owners.”

But there’s no convincing 61-year-old Allegheny County resident Joseph Mosko of that.

“I think we should do away with the Second Amendment,” said Mosko, one of the poll’s respondents. “I don’t think people should be carrying guns. That’s what the police force is for. People don’t need to be carrying guns.”

Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFirePA, an organization that fights to end gun violence, said the poll results are in line with what his organization has learned.

“I’ve heard from gun owners, Republicans, from law enforcement officers that they all thought letting people carry hidden weapons without any vetting was a dangerous idea,” Garber said. “Most Pennsylvanians – whether they own gun or not and whether they want guns or not – think reasonable safeguards should exist.”

He said law enforcement, in particular, favor this requirement because it helps them to know in advance what to expect if they stop a vehicle or are called to a scene by checking to see if a person involved has a concealed-carry permit.

Robert Lohr, 38, of Berks County, was another poll participant opposed to permit-less carry.

“I fully believe in supporting the Second Amendment but I temper that with not everyone should have a gun because there are clearly some people who should not have access to a firearm,” he said. “So when you remove the step of obtaining a concealed carry permit, it opens the door a little bit to more people concealing a gun that probably shouldn’t have it in the first place.”

Myers agreed that people who have guns and want to carry them concealed “should be monitored.” She said she would favor more frequent background checks on those who want to carry a concealed weapon than the current five years.

Josiah Wenger, 29, of Franklin County, who is a gun owner whose concealed carry permit has expired, said his preference would be a federal permit-less carry law pass.