Which 16 states does Giffords identify as banning firearms at demonstrations and what do their statutes say?
Executive summary
Giffords has tracked state laws that restrict firearms at protests and demonstrations, but its materials and third‑party reporting disagree on the exact count and the scope of prohibitions — with PBS reporting 11 states plus D.C. that ban concealed carry at demonstrations and 11 states plus D.C. that ban open carry at demonstrations using Giffords’ tracker as the source [1]. Giffords’ own appendix and trend summaries show multiple states with explicit bans or new legislation (including California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Michigan and others) but the public excerpts provided do not contain a clean, fully enumerated list of “16 states” nor the full statutory language for each [2] [3] [4].
1. What Giffords reports and how reporters have summarized it
Giffords’ “Protecting Democracy” materials and an accompanying appendix map state restrictions on guns at public demonstrations and in government buildings; those materials recommend banning firearms at protests and describe varying state restrictions, and Giffords published an appendix listing states and the nature of their prohibitions [5] [2]. PBS’s fact‑check relying on a Giffords tracker summarized that “eleven states and the District of Columbia ban concealed weapons at demonstrations and protests, and 11 states and the district ban open carry,” and noted seven states plus D.C. ban both, reflecting Giffords’ dataset as interpreted by reporters [1] [6].
2. Examples Giffords names and the statutory patterns they point to
Giffords explicitly cites California and Hawaii as having recently enacted bans on guns at protests and rallies [3], and its materials note Washington moved to ban open carry on the state capitol campus and at demonstrations on public property after armed clashes there [7]. Giffords’ appendix snippets indicate Louisiana prohibits concealed carry at demonstrations that require a government permit while not necessarily prohibiting open carry, and Illinois is referenced in the context of “permitted events,” signaling statutory nuance rather than a blanket ban [2]. These examples illustrate that Giffords’ identified prohibitions differ: some states bar all carry at certain events, others bar only concealed or only open carry, and others limit firearms at government‑permitted demonstrations or on specific properties such as capitol grounds [2] [7].
3. How the statutes differ in practice according to Giffords
Giffords’ materials and the appendix show three recurring statutory approaches: complete bans tied to specific event types (e.g., California and Hawaii bans on rallies/protests), targeted bans limited to concealed or open carry or to demonstrations requiring permits (e.g., Louisiana’s concealed‑carry prohibition at permitted demonstrations), and location‑specific rules that exclude firearms from capitols, government buildings, or other “sensitive places” even when public events occur there [3] [2] [7]. Giffords also documents that many states adopt piecemeal restrictions — such as local signage rules at permitted events or exclusions for particular buildings — rather than a uniform statutory bar on all firearms at all demonstrations [4] [2].
4. Where reporting and the record diverge, and what cannot be confirmed here
Public reporting based on Giffords’ tracker shows different headline counts (e.g., PBS’s “11 states + D.C.” for concealed and open carry bans) than the user’s question about “16 states” [1]. The excerpted Giffords appendix available in the search snippets indicates many named states and statutory distinctions but does not provide a single enumerated list of 16 state names and full statutory text in the material provided here [2]. Therefore, it is not possible from the supplied sources to authoritatively list all 16 states and quote each statute verbatim; the full Giffords appendix and state codes would need to be consulted directly for complete, word‑for‑word citations [2].
5. Bottom line for a reader seeking precise statutes
Giffords identifies a set of states that restrict firearms at demonstrations, with prominent examples including California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Michigan, and—per snippets—Louisiana and Illinois, among others [3] [7] [2]. The restrictions vary: some states ban firearms at rallies entirely, some ban concealed or open carry only, and some limit guns at permitted demonstrations or on capitol grounds [3] [2] [7]. To compile the definitive list of 16 states and the exact statutory language, consult Giffords’ full “Protecting Democracy” appendix and each state’s statutes directly — the appendix referenced by Giffords is the starting point [2] [5].