This document provides a thorough discussion of the research project methodology and findings regarding the impacts on crime of concealed and open carry legislation among urban population in Kentucky and Oklahoma.
This report aims to fill a void in scholarly research examining the potential impact of relaxed firearm carrying permit on police-citizen encounters and crime in general. The research study assessed whether, and to what extent, concealed and open carry legislation facilitates changes in behaviors related to crime and police-citizen encounters. The research also explored how officers perceive concealed and open carry legislation impacts on their daily experiences with citizen encounters. The research study examined three of the largest metropolitan geographic areas across two states that passed constitutional carry legislation in 2019: Lexington, Kentucky, and Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The research methodology included a survey that was electronically administered to all sworn officers in the three participating agencies, and each of those agencies provided two things: criminal offense reports, and arrest reports including various charges. Those data were used to conduct interrupted time series analyses as a quasi-experimental design, on criminal activity. Key findings demonstrated varying attitudes across the multiple gun violence research questions in the surveys, although overall responses indicated that officers were concerned about gun violence, supportive of pro-firearm legislation as a general deterrent effect on crime, and believed that citizens should have some certification and training before carrying in public. Key findings also showed no evidence of a significant direct association between changes in serious Part I violent offences, which include rapes and aggravated assaults, and the passing of concealed and open carry legislation.