Analysis suggests that gun licensing may be more effective than background checks alone in reducing gun homicides

Despite widespread support, laws enforcing universal background checks for firearm purchases may not be enough to reduce shooting deaths in the United States.

A study from Tufts University School of Medicine, published Aug. 1 in the journal JAMA network openedreports that states that require gun permits instead of relying solely on universal background checks see firearm homicide rates 18% lower on average than states that have only background check policies.

The analysis compared firearm homicide data from the twelve states with universal background check laws but no licensing requirements (e.g., New York, Nevada, Vermont) and the seven states with gun licensing laws (e.g., Massachusetts, California, Rhode Island) dating back to 1976. until 1976. 2022.

States in the former group showed slight variations in gun homicide rates, while in states with licensing laws, shooting deaths fell from 2% to 32%.

“These findings cast doubt on the main strategy currently being used by gun violence prevention advocates and policymakers to reduce firearm deaths,” said study author Michael Siegel, professor of public health and community medicine at the School of Medicine.

“If state lawmakers really want to reduce gun violence, the most effective policy they can enact is one that requires permits to purchase or own a gun.”

Although research on universal background check laws shows that they are associated with declines in gun homicides, most of this work fails to distinguish between policies that require permits and those that do not. Separating them creates two studies from 2018 and 2020 found early evidence that the success of universal background checks can be attributed to licensing laws.

These findings are further supported by Siegel’s research, which made a comparison firearm death rates recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the State Firearm Law Database, a database he oversees at Tufts that collects and updates all state firearms laws.

Siegel isn’t surprised that gun permits are linked to fewer gun deaths. Although requirements vary by state, licensing laws generally require someone wishing to own a gun to go through a series of checks before granting permission, which is valid for several years, to purchase firearms from different dealers.

The advantage of state licensing is that their criminal databases are updated more consistently and are more likely to record lower-level crimes, such as domestic violence or drunk driving, compared to the federal databases used for universal background checks and which rely from states to maintain this data.

Universal background checks can fail if it takes so long for a request for a background check to be submitted that the time (72 hours) in which someone can legally continue to wait for a gun has passed.

This loophole allows people with a criminal record to purchase a firearm as standard. Background checks are also less effective if someone has recently committed a crime that makes them ineligible to own a gun, while permits can be immediately suspended.

“Some gun owners may hear this and say that permits are much more intrusive, but I want to emphasize that it is actually a win-win for both gun owners and public health,” Siegel says.

He states that on average, gun owners have four or more firearms, so having a licensing system makes it easier for them to make multiple purchases over time because their licensing does not require them to undergo a background check before each exchange.

Siegel plans to further explore the emerging link between gun licensing laws and firearm homicide rates, while also examining its impact on firearm suicides.

“One of the most important implications of this research is that it supports changes in the way we do things, such as encouraging all states to adopt reciprocal licensing systems, meaning a person with a gun license can keep their license and gun in one state can take with you. legally to another state,” Siegel said.