Permit to Purchase for Decline in Death

2016

An Analysis of Gun Law Requirements and Their Effect on Gun Violence Levels across States

Monica Silver

University of California, Davis | POL 195 and 192 A/B

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On July 20, 2012, a gunman opened fire into the audience of a midnight showing of “The

Dark Night Rises” in a movie theater in the town of Aurora, Colorado. Through use of an AR-15

rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and two .40 caliber handguns, the shooter, James Holmes, killed 12

people and injured 70 more. According to a report in the New York Times, law enforcement

officials stated that James Holmes purchased all of his weapons legally, as well as purchasing

3,000 rounds of handgun ammunition, 3,000 rounds for a semiautomatic rifle, and 350 rounds for

a 12 gauge shotgun, all over the Internet (Dao, James.) Although not the first mass shooting of

its’ kind, nor the last, the shooting in Aurora opened the already widening door even further for

the discussion on gun violence in America and our country’s failing gun control policies.

Although mass shootings do not account for the majority of firearms deaths and violence in the

nation, questions regarding how strict background checks of purchasers are, the ability to

purchase ammunition over the internet, and the need for mental health background checks

became a part of the discussion surrounding gun control in America as a result of the carnage in

Aurora. Four years later, our country still does not have answers to many of these questions, and

in fact, has seen a continued rise in gun violence and deaths by firearms across the nation. A few

more significant questions have arisen as individual states have begun to take it upon themselves

to control levels of gun violence. One such question is whether certain aspects of the permitting

or licensing processes actually help in decreasing gun violence, and whether states should focus

on one aspect of the process more than others.

Significance

Gun violence is a prevalent issue throughout the United States, with deaths due to

firearms escalating greatly in the last decade. Annually, there are over 30,000 deaths in the

United States, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and almost

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100,000 American annually are gun violence victims (smartgunlaws.org.) In 2015, there were

almost 34,000 deaths due to gun violence nationwide. Despite the ever increasing numbers of

firearm deaths and injuries, the federal government has not enacted many new gun control

policies, such as policies to limit gun ownership numbers or licensing requirements. Rather,

individual states enact their own gun control policies, often in the form of licensing or permitting

requirements for gun purchasers within their state. There has been a great deal of support across

the nation for stricter gun purchasing requirements, with 77.3 percent of Americans strongly

supporting gun licensing laws in a public opinion poll, including 59.4 percent of gun owners also

polled (smart gun laws org.) While many states have enacted licensing or permitting

requirements in addition to their state and federal background check requirements, states

determine exactly what their licensing requirements entail prior to purchase and at the point of

purchase. This includes the amount of firearms allowed for purchase by an individual, safety

certification requirements, mental health background checks, criminal background checks, and

more. States often refer to these requirements as permit to purchase laws.

Background

13 states currently have laws requiring licensing or permitting for gun owners or

purchasers (smartgunlaws.org.) Although each of these states has unique requirements for their

firearms purchasers, they all qualify as permit to purchase states or license to own states due to

their requirements for gun owners or purchasers to hold a permit or license prior to the point of

purchasing a firearm. California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois,

Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and

Rhode Island all have state laws requiring licensing for firearms purchasers. In the state of

California, the permit to purchase requirements are considered some of the strictest across the

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nation. State law requires long gun purchasers to be at least 18 years of age or older, and

handgun purchasers to be at least 21 years of age. Additionally, individuals must submit to a

mandatory 10-day waiting period at the point of purchase, during which they must undergo a

criminal background check from the Department of Justice. Lastly, firearms purchasers in

California must also qualify for a Firearm Safety Certificate (FSC), which requires them to score

a 75 percent or higher on a handwritten safety exam provided by licensed firearms professionals.

The FSC certification remains valid for 5 years before renewal is necessary by each purchaser

and owner. California’s requirements fall under the category of permit to purchase, especially

due to the waiting period and the requirement for purchasers to qualify for an FSC. These

requirements go further than what many other states require for their firearms purchasers.

However, due to the variance in permitting and licensing policies across the 13 states,

California’s lack of certain aspects, such as mental health background checks, still allow for the

question of whether strengthening the requirements further would help in decreasing gun

violence in California.

California uses its’ state Department of Justice to conduct criminal background checks on

firearms purchasers during the 10-day mandatory waiting period. California also limits firearm

purchasers to one firearm purchase every thirty days. Despite these strict requirements,

California firearm purchasers are never required to waive their rights to a mental health

background check, and the state still experiences many gun deaths annually. Therefore, it

becomes easier under California policy for individuals who should not be able to legally

purchase a firearm, such as persons with a history of mental health issues or irresponsible gun

users, to purchase their own firearms.

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Previous research has been conducted on gun control and firearm policymaking at the

federal level. Current federal gun control law is lacking, in that it allows for many individuals

with prior convictions for misdemeanor offenses to pass criminal background checks and legally

purchase firearms without submitting to a licensing or permitting process. Additional research

has shown that the amount of gun purchases and gun owners in states can affect the amount of

gun violence that occurs in each state. Research conducted by the Law Center to Prevent Gun

Violence has shown that in comparison to the national average of gun violence, states that have

higher amounts of gun purchases also show a higher amount of gun violence in their states

(smartgunlaws.org.) However, little research has been conducted into whether certain aspects of

permitting or licensing processes, such as mental health background checks or safety training

requirements, assist in decreasing the overall amount of gun violence in individual states, and in

the country overall.

Arguments and Hypotheses

Despite having the strictest permitting laws of any state, according to the Law Center to

Prevent Gun Violence, California does not have the least amount of gun violence in the country

(smartgunlaws.org.) It ranks 9th overall in lowest gun death rates of all states, and has an average

of 8.5 deaths due to gun violence out of every 100,000 people in the state (New Trajectory.) In

comparison, Hawaii, which requires mental health background checks as part of their permitting

process, has an average of 3.8 deaths due to gun violence out of every 100,000 people and only

about 10 percent of gun ownership in all households (New Trajectory.) Additionally,

Massachusetts, which requires all firearms purchasers to qualify for a Firearm ID or a Class A or

B license, has the lowest amount of gun deaths of all states, an average of about 3 out of every

100,000 people and an ownership percentage of about 12 percent (New Trajectory.) Therefore, it

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can be argued that the unique aspects of each states’ permit to purchase requirements may have a

large effect on the amount of gun violence that each state experiences. It can also be argued,

based on a case study of Missouri’s repeal of a permit to purchase law, that permit to purchase or

licensing requirements have a significant impact on the level of gun violence in that state.

It is expected that states requiring mental health background checks as part of their

permitting or licensing processes see a lesser amount of gun violence annually than states that do

not. It is also expected that states requiring an identification card, permit, or license for

purchasing all types of firearms will also see a lesser amount of gun violence annually than states

that do not. Lastly, it is expected that states that have permit to purchase requirements or

licensing processes that include safety training or certification programs experience less gun

violence annually and have lower percentages of gun ownership per household.

Due to the differences in state demographics, such as average population size, age,

ethnicity, gender, and more, it can be difficult to determine that these permitting and licensing

requirements are causing lower amounts of gun deaths per capita in each state. However, it is

expected that analysis of states in each category will show a clear correlation between certain

permitting or licensing requirements on firearms and lesser overall amounts of gun violence in

each state.

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Source: Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb.

2016.

Research Design

In order to understand the effect that various permit to purchase requirements have on

levels of gun violence, it is necessary to compare states that have similar permitting or licensing

processes and their levels of gun violence to other states with different aspects of permitting or

licensing processes. Ideally, analyzing data at the county level would be the best way to do a

comparative study, as it would give us greater similarities between units of analysis, because all

of the counties are within one single state, potentially containing somewhat similar

demographics. However, due to a lack of data available at the county level, the best way to

effectively test these requirements against each other is to do a small-n study using the 13 states

that have permitting or licensing requirements. Additionally, examining the case of Missouri’s

repealed permit to purchase law provides insight into the benefit of stricter gun control laws

generally, and helps to make the argument for improving gun control policy on a national basis.

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Source: gunlawsscorecard.org at Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent

Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

The first step is to examine the 13 states that have permitting or licensing requirements

for firearm purchasers and group them by similar permit to purchase or licensing laws. The Law

Center to Prevent Gun Violence provides a gun policy grade for every single state based on their

gun control policies and number of gun violence incidents annually (smartgunlaws.org.) Using

these gun policy grades, as well as the average amount of gun deaths per capita, each type of

permitting or licensing requirement can be compared to help determine which requirements

correlate with the least amount of firearms deaths. Lastly, each requirement type will be analyzed

in comparison to the other requirement types. Some states may fit into multiple categories, which

can assist in determining which licensing or permitting requirements make for the strongest gun

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control laws, and therefore, which might have the most overall impact on decreasing gun

violence across the nation.

The first category in this analysis is states that require licensing or permitting for all

firearms without mandatory mental health screenings. It will be referred to as the All Firearms

category, and includes California, and Connecticut. California was scored with an A- grade for

their permitting requirements which include the Firearm Safety Certificate requirement, the

mandatory 10-day waiting period, and much more. California was also the first state to require

microstamping of handguns for crime-tracking purposes. However, despite their strict laws,

California still had 3,026 deaths from firearms in 2013, and at least 6,035 hospitalizations and

emergency room treatments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in the same year (smartgunlaws.org.)

Connecticut also received a grade of A- for their permitting requirements, including the

requirement of an eligibility certificate for both long gun and handgun purchases, requiring a

background check at gun shows, and prohibiting transfer and possession of assault weapons and

large capacity ammunition magazines. Connecticut had 161 deaths from firearms in 2013, the 4th

lowest rate of gun deaths per capita amongst the states (smartgunlaws.org.) California and

Connecticut both do not require purchasers to sign a mental health background check waiver.

California and Connecticut allow for permits to purchase to remain valid for a period of five

years. In comparison to the rest of the United States, they rank in the top ten states with the

strictest gun laws, and the top ten states with the lowest gun death rates.

Hawaii, Illinois, and New Jersey each have the added requirement of requiring firearms

purchasers to waive their rights to a mental health background check, in addition to similarities

with the permitting processes of California and Connecticut. According to the Law Center to

Prevent Gun Violence, Hawaii scores a B+ for regulating most of their firearms, requiring

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purchasers to obtain a license, and banning most assault weapons and large ammunition

magazines (smartgunlaws.org.) Hawaii had the 2nd lowest amount of gun deaths per capita in

2013, with only 38 deaths by firearms. Illinois also requires firearms purchasers to waive their

rights to a mental health screening, as well as requiring each purchaser to qualify for a Firearm

Owner Identification Card (FOID.) Illinois received a score of B+ from the Law Center to

Prevent Gun Violence for their ten-year license requirement (FOID), their waiting periods of 72

hours for handguns and 24 hours for long guns, and their implementation of design safety

standards for some firearms (smartgunlaws.org.) Illinois had the 10th lowest amount of gun

deaths per capita in 2013, with approximately 1,178 people dying from firearms injuries. They

also do not have a required registration process for firearms owners or for firearms dealers. New

Jersey also require firearms purchasers to waive their right to a mental health background check.

They received a score of A- for their permitting requirement for all handguns, and a separate

Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (FPIC) for all shot gun and rifle purchases. The permits

for handguns remain valid for 90 days, and permits for long guns remain valid as long as the

purchaser remains eligible to possess a firearm. They had the 5th lowest number of gun deaths per

capita of all states, with an average of approximately 5 out of every 100,000 people dying from

firearms injuries. Each of these states is ranked amongst the top ten states with the strictest gun

laws, and amongst the top ten states with the lowest gun deaths per capita.

As of 2014, Massachusetts also requires reporting of all mentally ill individuals to the

federal database used to conduct firearms purchaser background checks. Although they do not

require purchasers to waive their right to a mental health background check, Massachusetts will

still be categorized under the Mental Health Background Check category for the purpose of this

study. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Massachusetts received a score of

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A- for their licensing requirements of all firearms purchasers, their ban on some assault weapons

and large ammunitions magazines, and their maintenance of a permanent firearms sales record

(smartgunlaws.org.) Massachusetts had the lowest number of gun deaths per capita, with

approximately 3 out of every 100,000 people in the state dying due to firearms.

Many states only requiring licenses or permits for handgun purchases and ownership.

These states include Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, and

Rhode Island. However, Michigan only requires ownership and purchasing license if firearms are

not purchased from a licensed dealer, and Nebraska only requires licenses for purchases inside of

Omaha and purchases from private sales or transfers. Michigan received a C grade from the Law

Center to Prevent Gun Violence due to their requirements to report all handgun sales and

purchases from a private buyer to law enforcement, and reporting of all firearm thefts. They were

ranked 22nd among the states in gun deaths per capita with 1,190 deaths due to firearms injuries

in 2013 (smartgunlaws.org.) Nebraska received a grade of D for their requirement of reporting

handgun purchases from an unlicensed, private seller after a background check. However, their

inability to regulate ammunition or require background checks and permitting for long guns

contributes to their grade. They were ranked 11th of all states in gun deaths per capita, with

approximately 7.5 deaths due to firearms per every 100,000 people (smartgunlaws.org.)

Iowa, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island all require full licensing

for handgun purchases and ownership. Iowa received a score of C- from the Law Center to

Prevent Gun Violence for their annual permit requirement for handgun purchases, including a

background check and 3-day waiting period. In 2013, Iowa was tied for the 10th lowest number

of gun deaths per capita, with approximately 6 out of every 100,000 people dying from firearms

(smartgunlaws.org.) Maryland was scored with an A- grade for their requirements on licensing

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handgun purchases and sales, background check requirements through the Maryland State

Police, and imposing a 7-day waiting period on transfers of a handgun or assault weapon. They

had the 15th lowest rate of gun deaths per capita, with 578 deaths from firearms in 2013

(smartgunlaws.org.) New York also received a score of A- for their background check

requirements for handgun purchases, their requirement of licensing handgun purchasers and

dealers, and their banning of most assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines.

They had the 3rd lowest number of gun deaths per capita in 2013, with an average of 5 per every

100,000 people dying due to firearms (smartgunlaws.org.) North Carolina received a score of an

F from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence for requiring handgun purchasers to obtain a

license following a background check, but failing to regulate long gun purchases or transfers, and

failing to significantly regulate firearms dealers. They were ranked 21st of all states in 2013 for

gun deaths per capita, with approximately 11.5 deaths due to firearms per every 100,000 people

(smartgunlaws.org.) Lastly, Rhode Island received a score of B+ for their licensing requirements

for all firearms dealers, their requirement of a safety certificate for all handgun purchasers, and

their requirement of a background check prior to transfers of firearms between individuals not

licensed as dealers. They were ranked 5th lowest amongst states in number of gun deaths per

capita in 2013, with approximately 5.5 deaths due to firearms per every 100,000 people

(smartgunlaws.org.) Although each of these states has very different requirements for their

permitting and licensing processes, they all do not require the regulation of long gun purchases

and ownerships. Therefore, they all fall under the category of Handgun Licensing/Permitting

Only.

Lastly, states requiring safety training or certification programs will be grouped together

to help determine if this requirement has an impact on decreasing levels of gun violence amongst

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states. These states include California, Washington D.C, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, which

all require safety certifications or training prior to all firearm purchases and transfers. Hawaii,

Maryland, and Rhode Island also fall under this category, as they require safety certifications or

training for all handgun purchases and transfers. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence does

not grade Washington D.C, as it is classified as a district, and not a state (smartgunlaws.org.)

Therefore, it will not be included in this study.

Lastly, the state of Missouri provides an example of a correlation between permitting

requirements and lessening of overall amounts of gun violence. According to the Law Center to

Prevent Gun Violence, Missouri scores an F for failing to require a background check for

transfers of firearms between unlicensed parties, to require gun owners and purchasers to obtain

a license or register their firearms, and to impose a waiting period on firearms purchases.

Missouri was ranked 38th amongst states for deaths due to firearms per capita in 2013, with

approximately 14 out of every 100,000 people dying to gun violence (New Trajectory.)

Without conducting a full analysis of each category of permitting and licensing

requirements, there are a few preliminary findings that can be stated. States that require

permitting or licensing requirements for all firearm types, including a criminal background check

process, have lower amounts of gun deaths per capita than states that do not. Additionally, states

requiring firearms purchasers to waive their rights to mental health background checks have

lower gun deaths per capita in most cases than states that do not. Finally, states that require

safety certification or training programs, whether for all firearm types or only for handguns, have

lower amounts of gun deaths per capita than states that do not require any safety training or

certification at all.

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Data and Measures

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence collects their data through a variety of ways.

When determining support for gun control laws, they use public opinion survey polls. The

information gathered on state gun laws is collected directly from state departments and enacted

pieces of legislation (smartgunlaw.org.) However, the grading system for state gun laws is of

their own design, meaning that it could be biased to favor states with certain gun law

requirements. In order to attempt to combat this potential bias, data collected from state crime

records and state gun sale records, originally compiled by Ceasefire Oregon will also be used to

analyze the effectiveness of various permitting and licensing requirements. This data may be

affected by the fact that not all states require gun owners and purchasers to register their

firearms. However, it is the most accurate data available at this point. The data for the states

considered to fall under permit to purchase laws are what will be used in this analysis.

The data from Ceasefire Oregon shows the amount of gun deaths per every 100,000

residents of any state, as well as the percentage of households owning guns (New Trajectory.)

While the original data is meant to show a correlation between owning more guns and having

greater amounts of gun violence, this study will use this data to show that there is a correlation

between certain permit to purchase requirements and less gun violence. It is expected that, due to

stricter permit to purchase requirements, there will naturally be a lesser amount of gun ownership

in these states.

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5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 500

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Gun ownership vs. gun deaths per state in 2013

Percentages of Households owning a Gun

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HawaiiMassachu-setts

New JerseyRhode Island Connecticut

New York

Illinois

California

Maryland

North Carolina

Michigan

Nebraska

Iowa

Source: New Trajectory. Ceasefire Oregon, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

Analysis

In order to analyze this data, the different types of requirements for permitting or

licensing laws will be compared to each other by examining all of the states that fall into that

category. Additionally, the state gun law grades, as determined by the Law Center to Prevent

Gun Violence, and their average amount of gun deaths per every 100,000 people will be

compared to each other. Solely based on the gun grades provided by Law Center to Prevent Gun

Violence, there is a clear correlation between gun laws including licensing or permitting of all

firearms, mental health background checks and waivers, and safety training programs and

certifications to lower amounts of gun violence (which is part of how the state gun laws are

graded.)

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States Category Second Category (if

applicable)

Grade

California All Firearm Safety Training A-

Connecticut All Firearm Safety Training A-

Hawaii Mental Health

Background Check

Safety Training B+

Illinois Mental Health

Background Check

N/A B

New Jersey Mental Health

Background Check

N/A A-

Massachusetts Mental Health

Background Check

Safety Training B+

Michigan Handguns Only N/A C

Nebraska Handguns Only N/A D

Iowa Handguns Only N/A C-

Maryland Handguns Only Safety Training A-

New York Handguns Only N/A A-

North Carolina Handguns Only N/A F

Rhode Island Handguns Only Safety Training B-

Source: Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb.

2016.

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However, to attempt to combat any biases that the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence may

have in their scoring system, it is also necessary to look at annual gun deaths in each state based

on their categorization.

The first category to be analyzed is the All Firearms category. California and Connecticut

are the only two states that have been placed in this category. They both received gun grades of

A- from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and both require criminal background checks

as part of their permitting processes. In comparison to each other, California has a greater

amount of average gun deaths per every 100,000 people than Connecticut, a difference of

approximately 3 gun deaths. There may be many reasons for this gap, including population size

or demographics, but this study will solely focus on the number of gun deaths per 100,000

people due to the lack of data provided at county and city levels. The numbers are still low in

comparison to the rest of the nation, but a comparison to other permitting and licensing states is

now necessary to determine exactly how effective these states’ laws are in lessening gun

violence.

California Connecticut0

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ALL Firearms Permitted or Licensed Category

States

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Next, the states falling into the Mental Health Background Check category will be

examined. These states are Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Hawaii received a

grade of B+ from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Illinois received a B, New Jersey

received an A-, and Massachusetts received a B+. In analyzing the number of gun deaths per

every 100,000 people, Massachusetts actually comes up strongest with only 3 gun deaths on

average. Hawaii is close behind with 3.8, New Jersey with 5, and Illinois topping out at 8.

Hawaii Illinois New Jersey Massachusetts0

2

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6

8

10

12

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Mental Health Background Checks Category

States

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In comparing these results to the state gun law grades, a few interesting results show. The first is

that despite receiving the best grade out of all of the states requiring mental health background

checks, New Jersey actually has slightly more gun deaths per every 100,000 people than both

Hawaii and Massachusetts. Additionally, all of the states requiring mental health background

checks for firearms purchasers have lower amounts of average gun deaths than the states that

simply require all firearms purchasers to have a permit or license. Unsurprisingly, Illinois, which

received the lowest grade from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, also had the highest

amount of gun deaths on average of the mental health background check states, although still

lower than either California or Connecticut. Again, these results could have outside influences,

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such as demographics or population size, but overall, it can be seen that including a mental

health background check in a permitting or licensing requirement does help to strengthen gun

control laws in states.

The next category to be examined is the Handguns Only category, which includes states

requiring only handgun purchases to be permitted or licensed. These states include Iowa,

Maryland, North Carolina, New York, and Rhode Island. Additionally, Michigan and Nebraska

are included in this category for analysis, despite the fact that they only require permits for

purchase in certain areas of their states or for certain types of purchases. Michigan received a C

gun law grade from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Nebraska received a D grade, Iowa

received a C-, Maryland received an A-, New York received an A-, North Carolina received an

F, and Rhode Island received a B-. In analyzing these states and their average gun deaths per

100,000 people, we see some interesting results. Nebraska, which received a D grade, actually

has less average gun deaths than states such as Michigan and Maryland. Additionally, New

York, which has a large population and very diverse demographics, two variables that might be

expected to affect gun death levels, actually has the lowest amount of gun deaths of all the states

in this category. Maryland, which also received an A- grade, actually has the second highest

number of gun deaths of any state with permitting or licensing requirements. As expected, North

Carolina, which received an F grade, has the highest number of gun deaths of any state with

permitting or licensing laws.

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Michigan

Nebraska Iowa

Maryland

New York

North Carolin

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Rhode Island

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Handguns Only Permitting Category

States

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The final category for analysis is the Safety Training category. Many states require an

additional safety training or certification program, in addition to their background checks, for

purchasers to qualify for licenses or permits for firearms. California, Connecticut, Hawaii,

Massachusetts, Maryland, and Rhode Island all require these programs. In examining these states

based on this requirement, it is interesting that Maryland and California, both graded with A- by

the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, have the highest amounts of gun deaths per 100,000

people. However, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Rhode Island all remain low in

comparison to the other two states in the category.

California Connecticut Hawaii MassachusettsMaryland Rhode Island02

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Safety Training Category

States

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After analyzing each category of permitting or licensing requirements by state, it is

beneficial to compare the categories side by side. In averaging the gun deaths of states in each

category, it becomes clear there are a few clear indicators for which requirements lead to lower

levels of gun violence in states. The first is the mental health background check. The states that

require their firearms purchasers to have a mental health background check average lower

amounts of gun deaths per every 100,000 people than the states that do not require these types of

background checks. Additionally, states requiring that all types of firearms purchases require a

permit or license have an average lesser amount of gun deaths than states that do not, as seen in

the comparison between the all firearms category and the handguns only category. Lastly, states

that require a safety certification or training program for firearms purchasers tend to have an

average lower amount of gun deaths than states that do not. Therefore, it can be argued that,

based on the analysis of permit to purchase and licensing requirements across states, laws

requiring mental health background checks, licensing or permitting for all firearms purchases,

and safety training or certification programs would make for the strongest gun laws. States that

have two or more of these requirements tend to have the lowest amount of deaths due to guns.

Therefore, it is likely that states incorporating all three of these requirements would have even

lower amounts of gun deaths, and that these requirements would be the best practices for states

to institute to lower gun violence levels.

Lastly, the case of Missouri can be analyzed to demonstrate a strong correlation between

stricter gun control laws and lesser overall amounts of gun violence. Missouri repealed its permit

to purchase handgun licensing law and background checks requirements in 2007, which was

linked to a 14 percent increase in murder rates in the state, and almost a 5 percent increase in

All Firearms Mental Health Background Checks

Hanguns Only Safety Training0123456789

10

Average Gun Deaths by Permitting Requirement Categories

Permitting Requirement Categories

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firearm homicide rates through 2012 (smartgunlaws.org.) This translated into an additional 49 to

68 murders annually in the state. Other research also confirmed that the repeal resulted in an

estimated 16.1 percent increase in the firearm suicide rate in the state (smartgunlaws.org.) In

comparison, Connecticut determined that, in the ten years following their implementation of

permit to purchase handgun laws, the state saw a 40 percent reduction in the firearm homicide

rate, and approximately a 15.4 percent reduction in firearm suicide rates. The research concluded

that the decline was only in regards to suicides and homicides by firearms, showing a clear

correlation between permit to purchase institution and decreases in gun violence

(smartgunlaws.org.)

Policy Suggestions

In understanding that states are able to control their own gun laws, there are certain

policy suggestions that could be made on a state by state basis. There are also changes that must

be made in how data on gun violence and firearms purchases is recorded. For example, the lack

of data that is available at the county and city level makes it very difficult to understand if gun

violence levels are a result of certain population demographics, environment, or any other

variables. It also appears that data is not kept at the county or city level on firearm purchases,

meaning that it is difficult to determine if gun violence stems from certain areas within states,

and thus those areas should be targeted, or whether it is more widespread within a single state.

Therefore, better records must be kept by local governments on gun purchases, so as to help

determine how best to approach gun licensing and permitting, at the local, state, and federal

level.

In order to best affect positive change in gun violence levels within California, the state

should require all firearms purchasers to waive their rights to a mental health background check.

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Not only could this help to lessen incidents of mass shootings and homicides, but it could also

significantly bring down the rate of suicides by gun. California has been a consistent leader in

the nation for being active against gun violence. Instituting a mental health background check

requirement would only strengthen the already existing permitting requirements of the state.

California should also incentivize the local governments of the state to track their gun purchase

data, as well as their gun violence data, in a way that allows for better analysis of the areas that

need more intervention to prevent gun violence. This would allow for the state to better assist in

targeting counties and cities that experience greater levels of gun violence than the rest of the

state.

The federal government could best affect change by requiring all states to institute a

permitting or licensing law for all handgun purchases, if not all firearms types. This would allow

for better tracking of gun purchases, which would assist the federal government in effectively

determining their own best practices for decreasing gun violence in the United States.

Additionally, instituting a program to incentivize states to institute their own permitting or

licensing policies would allow for the federal government to assist in lessening gun violence

across the nation. Due to the fact that many stakeholders believe that the federal government

should not infringe on the rights of citizens to “bear arms,” as per the second amendment of the

constitution, incentivizing states to implement their own policies will better allow for stronger

gun control across the nation without major intervention at the federal level.

For all of these policy suggestions, the direct stakeholders would be citizens who wish to

purchase firearms, or already own firearms, and victims of gun violence. In some ways, these

permitting or licensing policies will affect direct stakeholders positively, through bringing down

gun violence levels, meaning less victims of gun violence. Additionally, introducing these

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policies will allow for better safety training for firearms purchasers and owners, and will ensure

that only truly responsible firearms purchasers have access to guns. The negative effects on

direct stakeholders would be on firearms purchasers who are not qualified to own a firearm. A

stricter purchasing process would lead to less unqualified firearms purchasers and owners being

able to legally purchase guns. Additionally, there are indirect stakeholders to this policy, such as

firearms dealers and the citizens of the United States. The negative effects for firearms dealers

would be less gun sales, as there will be less qualified purchasers under a stricter purchasing

process. Additionally, this could mean that firearms and ammunition could increase in prices,

which would be a negative effect for United States citizens who wish to purchase these products.

However, the positive effect for citizens would be the decrease in gun violence throughout the

nation, a number which has been increasing annually over the past decade.

Despite the negative effects that instituting stricter gun control policies may have on

some firearms purchasers and firearms dealers, it is clear that permit to purchase laws and

licensing policies have a clear correlation with lessening gun violence numbers across states. In

order to be most effective in instituting these types of policies, the firearms coalitions, such as

the National Rifle Association (NRA), must be convinced that this will not force responsible gun

owners to give up their gun rights. Additionally, citizens who fear that stricter gun control

policies will lead to them losing their rights to own firearms must be persuaded that these

permitting and licensing processes will solely assist in limiting the amount of irresponsible

firearms owners that are currently able to purchase firearms without any sort of background

check or safety training program requirements. The issue of gun control has been a very

important topic for the citizens of the United States, especially in the last few decades. If

stakeholders can be persuaded to understand that instituting permit to purchase or licensing

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policies across the nation will help to decrease gun violence without limiting the abilities of

responsible firearms owners to purchase or own guns, then the United States can begin to make

efficient progress on combatting gun violence and can work towards becoming a safer nation for

all.

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Works Cited

Dao, James. "Aurora Gunman’s Arsenal: Shotgun, Semiautomatic Rifle, and at the End, a

Pistol." The New York Times. N.p., 23 July 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

New Trajectory. Ceasefire Oregon, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.