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Gun Violence Prevention

Gun violence claimed the lives of more than 30,000 Americans in 2003.1
For every person who dies from a gunshot, at least two others are seriously wounded. Nearly 100,000 Americans pass through the doors of hospital emergency rooms every year with serious or fatal gun injuries. The medical and social costs of gun violence in the United States are estimated to be $100 billion per year.2
The Brady law is one of the most efficient law enforcement tools available and has prevented more than 1.2 million illegal firearms transactions.3
Federal law prohibits convicted felons, individuals convicted of violent misdemeanors, domestic abusers, juveniles, and people with serious mental illnesses from buying or owning guns. The Brady law requires background checks on individuals who seek to purchase handguns to screen for prohibited purchasers. But the Brady law’s application is limited because it only applies to licensed gun dealers.
Forty percent of gun transactions nationwide occur through unlicensed sellers and no-questions-asked private deals that require no background checks.4
In most states, private gun sales are totally unregulated. Guns can be sold anonymously from homes, in back rooms, and on the street—without any legal oversight. Lax gun laws allow criminals and other prohibited gun buyers to easily obtain guns. This gaping loophole in federal law, and in most state laws, may explain why 88 percent of traced crime guns have changed hands through at least one private transaction.5
More than 65 million handguns are in circulation in the United States today, a number that increases by two million each year.6
Handguns are extremely durable products that can be circulated from buyer to buyer, easily outliving their owners. These weapons remain functional and deadly for years. That is why it is essential to apply commonsense regulations, like the Brady law’s background checks, to all gun transactions.
Several policies would reduce violence by regulating the distribution of firearms.
In the absence of federal standards, states can curtail the flow of guns to prohibited purchasers by giving police the tools to keep guns out of the wrong hands. The harder it is for gun sellers to hide their activities, the easier it is to prevent criminal access to firearms. States can:
  • Require background checks for all transactions at gun shows.
  • Institute background checks on all gun sales by unlicensed sellers.
  • Require handgun licensing and registration.
  • Prohibit the transfer of semiautomatic assault weapons. This is especially urgent because the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004.
Many states have strong laws that regulate firearms transfers by unlicensed sellers.
In 2005, Illinois enacted a law that mandates background checks for purchasers at gun shows. Seven states (IN, MD, MI, MO, NE, NC, PA) have laws that require criminal background checks on all handgun sales. Six states (CA, CT, HI, MA, NJ, NY) have taken regulation a step further and require the licensing and registration of handguns.
Americans—including gun owners—strongly support gun restrictions.
A September 2004 Harris Interactive Poll reported that 60 percent of Americans favor “stricter gun control,” while only 32 percent favor “less strict gun control.” The same poll found that 71 percent of Americans favor and only 26 percent oppose “a ban prohibiting the sale of assault rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines.” A 2001 Lake Snell Perry & Associates poll found that: 92 percent of Americans and 86 percent of gun owners favor criminal background checks for all gun sales; 85 percent of Americans and 73 percent of gun owners favor handgun licensing; and 83 percent of Americans and 72 percent of gun owners favor the registration of all new handguns.

This policy summary relies in large part on information from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Endnotes
  1. Donna Hoyert, Hsiang-Ching Kung and Betty Smith, "Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2003," National Vital Statistics Report, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 28, 2005.
  2. Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig, “Gun Violence: The Real Costs,” 2000.
  3. Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2004,” October 2005.
  4. Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig, “Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms, National Institute of Justice Research in Brief,” May 1997.
  5. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, "Crime Gun Trace Reports (2000): National Report," 2000.
  6. "Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms, National Institute of Justice Research in Brief."
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