Background Checks

Background checks are designed to prevent people prohibited from purchasing guns.

Prohibited purchasers include felons, fugitives, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill. Federal law -- the Brady Act -- requires federally licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks on prospective gun purchasers. Private sales are exempt from federal law however 20 states have laws which require unlicensed sellers to conduct background checks on some or all firearms purchasers. Center research has examined the impact of background checks on numerous outcomes, including trafficking, shootings, and firearm suicides.

Key Statistic

State universal background checks — along with other state laws designed to increase gun seller and purchaser accountability — significantly reduce the number of guns diverted to the illegal market, where high risk groups often get their guns. States without universal background check laws have 30 percent higher levels of exporting across state lines guns that were later recovered from criminals.^[1]

“States that have passed background checks without a permit or licensing component have not experienced reductions in violence. This is likely due to a number of factors, including enforcement, implementation and not having a licensing or permit component.”

– Daniel Webster, Center Director

Select Journal Articles

• Effect on background checks of newly-enacted comprehensive background check policies in Oregon and Washington: a synthetic control approach. Castillo-Carniglia A, Webster DW, Wintemute GJ. Injury Epidemiology. 2019;6:45. Published 2019 Nov 27.
• Comprehensive background check policy and firearm background checks in three US states.
  Castillo-Carniglia A, Kagawa RMC, Webster DW, Vernick JS, Cerdá M, Wintemute GJ. Inj Prev. 2019 Feb;24(6):431-436.
• California's comprehensive background check and misdemeanor violence prohibition policies and firearm mortality.
  Castillo-Carniglia, A, Kagawa, RMC., Cerdá, M, Crifasi, C, Vernick, JS, Webster, DW, & Wintemute, GJ. Annals of Epidemiology. 11 October 2018.
• Repeal of Comprehensive Background Check Policies and Firearm Homicide and Suicide.
  Kagawa RMC, Castillo-Carniglia A, Vernick JS, Webster D, Crifasi C, Rudolph KE, Cerdá M, Shev A, Wintemute GJ. Epidemiology. 2018 Jul;29(4):494-502.
• Changes in the legal environment and enforcement of firearm transfer laws in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
  Crifasi CK, Merrill-Francis M, Webster DW, Wintemute GJ, Vernick JS. Inj Prev. 2018 Jan 13.
• Effects of state-level firearm seller accountability policies on firearm trafficking.
  Webster DW, Vernick JS, Bulzacchelli MT. J Urban Health. 2009 Jul;86(4):525-37.

Press Releases

• Prosecuting Background Check and Straw Purchase Violations Depends on State Law 
  Tue, 23 Jan 2018

• Strong Regulations on Gun Sales Prevent High-Risk Individuals from Accessing Firearms and Can Reduce Violent Crime, Study Finds 
  Wed, 18 Mar 2015