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Background Checks on All Gun Sales

    Background Checks on All Gun Sales

      What does this solve?

      Background checks are the foundation of any comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy. Current federal law requires that background checks be conducted whenever a person attempts to buy a gun from a licensed gun dealer. This is to ensure that the buyer is not legally prohibited from having the gun. Since federal law began requiring these background checks in 1994, background checks have blocked millions of sales to people with felony convictions or other prohibiting histories.

      Under federal law, background checks are only required for gun sales conducted by licensed dealers. Federal law does not address gun sales by unlicensed sellers (e.g., non-dealers who sell guns online or at gun shows). This loophole makes it easy for people with felony convictions, domestic abuse restraining orders, and/or prohibiting histories of mental illness to buy guns with no questions asked. While federal regulations expanded in 2024 to require more background checks nationwide,1Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,“Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” Federal Register 89, no. 77 (April 19, 2024): 28968–29093, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-19/pdf/2024-07838.pdf; Biden-Harris White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Action to Implement Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Expanding Firearm Background Checks to Fight Gun Crime,” April 11, 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/11/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-action-to-implement-bipartisan-safer-communities-act-expanding-firearm-background-checks-to-fight-gun-crime/. the loophole in the law remains. The loophole should be closed by requiring background checks on all gun sales—not just on the sale of firearms from licensed gun dealers.

      Which states require background checks and/or permits to purchase handguns?

      22 states have adopted this policy

      AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Alabama has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Alaska has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Arizona has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Arkansas has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      California has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Colorado has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Connecticut has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase and point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Delaware has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase (for handguns) and point-of-sale (for all guns)

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Florida has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Georgia has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Hawaii has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Idaho has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Illinois has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase and point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Indiana has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Iowa has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Kansas has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Kentucky has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Louisiana has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Maine has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns) sold at a gun show or as a result of an advertisement
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Maryland has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase (for handguns) and point-of-sale (for all guns)

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Massachusetts has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Michigan has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Minnesota has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      Handguns and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase or point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Mississippi has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Missouri has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Montana has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Nebraska has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      Handguns only
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Nevada has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      New Hampshire has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      New Jersey has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase and point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      New Mexico has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      New York has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase (for handguns and semiautomatic rifles) and point-of-sale (for all guns)

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      North Carolina has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      North Dakota has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Ohio has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Oklahoma has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Oregon has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Permit to purchase and point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Pennsylvania has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      Handguns only
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Rhode Island has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      South Carolina has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      South Dakota has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Tennessee has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Texas has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Utah has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Vermont has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Virginia has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Washington has adopted this policy

      Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
      All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
      When is the background check performed?
      Point-of-sale

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      West Virginia has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Wisconsin has not adopted this policy

      Background Check and/or Purchase Permit

      Wyoming has not adopted this policy

      How it Works

      Background checks keep guns out of the wrong hands.

      Update Background Check Laws Fact Sheet

      In 2024, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) finalized a rule requiring more unlicensed gun sellers to get dealer licenses1Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,“Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” Federal Register 89, no. 77 (April 19, 2024): 28968–29093, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-19/pdf/2024-07838.pdf; Biden-Harris White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Action to Implement Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Expanding Firearm Background Checks to Fight Gun Crime,” April 11, 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/11/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-action-to-implement-bipartisan-safer-communities-act-expanding-firearm-background-checks-to-fight-gun-crime/. —meaning more gun buyers will have to pass background checks and fewer guns will end up in the wrong hands. The rule will have an especially large impact on firearm sales at gun shows and online. However, federal law continues to allow many sellers to proceed without getting licensed and running background checks, leaving open a loophole through which prohibited people are able to purchase guns with no questions asked.

      A 2015 survey found that nearly a quarter of Americans—22 percent—who acquired a firearm in the two years prior did so without a background check.2Matthew Miller, Lisa Hepburn, and Deborah Azrael, “Firearm Acquisition Without Background Checks: Results of a National Survey,” Annals of Internal Medicine 166, 4 (2017): 233–39, https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-1590. An Everytown investigation showed that nearly 1 in 9 people arranging to buy a firearm on Armslist.com, the nation’s largest online gun marketplace, are people who cannot legally have firearms. 

      Unlicensed sellers are also contributing to gun trafficking: A 2024 ATF analysis of five years of closed firearm trafficking investigations found that unlicensed sellers who do not conduct background checks are the most common suppliers of illegally trafficked firearms. Unlicensed sellers supplied over half of the trafficked guns in these investigations, amounting to more than 68,000 trafficked guns from 2017 to 2021.3ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume III: Firearms Trafficking Investigations,” April 2024, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-firearms-commerce-and-trafficking-assessment-nfcta-firearms-trafficking.

      Requiring background checks on all gun sales is proven to reduce gun violence. State laws requiring background checks for all handgun sales—by point-of-sale check and/or permit—are associated with lower firearm homicide rates,4Michael Siegel and Claire Boine, What Are the Most Effective Policies in Reducing Gun Homicides? Rockefeller Institute of Government, March 2019, https://bit.ly/2YPAz7P. lower firearm suicide rates,5Eric W. Fleegler et al., “Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Fatalities in the United States,” JAMA Internal Medicine 173, no. 9 (2013): 732–40, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.1286. and lower firearm trafficking.6Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, and Maria T. Bulzacchelli, “Effects of State-Level Firearm Seller Accountability Policies on Firearm Trafficking,” Journal of Urban Health 86, no. 4 (July 2009): 525–37, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9351-x; Daniel W. Webster et al., “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013): 109-21, https://bit.ly/3Ic334l.

      By the numbers

      Myth

      Requiring background checks on all gun sales would be burdensome.

      Fact

      The most common federal background check legislation would simply require that unlicensed sellers meet their buyers at a gun dealer. The gun dealer would then run a background check in exactly the same way as for sales directly from the dealer’s store. In 2022, there were nearly 78,000 active gun dealers across the country,1Everytown Research analysis of ATF, Monthly Federal Firearms Listings, 2022. Total listings were deduplicated based on unique addresses. This total does not include Type 3 license holders, who are not permitted to sell firearms and thus are not engaged in the business of firearm sales. more than all McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Wendy’s locations combined, and twice the number of US post offices2Everytown Research analysis of ATF, Monthly Federal Firearms Listings, 2022, and restaurant data: totals were 13,232 McDonald’s, 7,257 Burger King, 21,781 Subway, and 5,987 Wendy’s locations. There are 31,132 Postal Service-managed retail offices in the US.—so there are many places to get a background check done. Gun owners are already accustomed to this process, because they do it every time they buy a gun from a dealer.

      Featured Resources

      Background Checks on All Gun Sales

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      Did you know?

      An Everytown investigation showed that as many as 1 in 9 people arranging to buy a firearm on Armslist.com, the nation’s largest online gun marketplace, are people who cannot legally have firearms.

      Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Unchecked: An Investigation of the Online Firearm Marketplace,” February 2021, https://bit.ly/3dUshWo.