Licensing
Licensing laws or Permit-to-Purchase (PTP) laws require an individual who wants to purchase a firearm to apply for a license at a local law enforcement agency. The application may include a background check, fingerprinting, and potentially evidence of handgun safety training.
PTP laws are in effect in 9 states and the District of Columbia: Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina. Center researchers have determined the impact of licensing on a number of outcomes, including homicide, suicide, shootings of law enforcement officers and intimate partner homicide.
Key Statistic
After Missouri repealed its licensing law in 2007, the state saw a 16.1 percent increase in firearm suicide and a 25 percent increase in firearm homicide. Following Connecticut’s implementation of a licensing law, the state’s firearm homicide rate declined 40 percent and the firearm suicide rate declined 15.4 percent.[1]
“Requiring a license or permit to purchase a handgun reduces firearm homicides and suicides, as well as trafficking and shootings of law enforcement officers. It is one of the most effective policies we have to reduce gun violence.”
– Cassandra Crifasi, Center Deputy Director
Select Journal Articles
- Purchaser Licensing, Point-of-Sale Background Check Laws, and Firearm Homicide and Suicide in 4 US States, 1985-2017. McCourt AD, Crifasi CK, Stuart EA, Vernick JS, Kagawa RMC, Wintemute GJ, Webster DW. Am J Public Health. 2020 Oct;110(10):1546-1552.
- Evaluating Missouri's Handgun Purchaser Law: A Bracketing Method for Addressing Concerns About History Interacting with Group. Hasegawa RB, Webster DW, Small DS. Epidemiology. 2019 May;30(3):371-379.
- Correction to: Association between Firearm Laws and Homicide in Urban Counties. Crifasi CK, Merrill-Francis M, McCourt A, Vernick JS, Wintemute GJ, Webster DW. J Urban Health. 2018 Oct;95(5):773-776.
- Association between Firearm Laws and Homicide in Urban Counties. Crifasi CK, Merrill-Francis M, McCourt A, Vernick JS, Wintemute GJ, Webster DW. J Urban Health. 2018 Jun;95(3):383-390.
- The initial impact of Maryland’s firearm safety act of 2013 on the supply of crime handguns in Baltimore. Crifasi, CK., Buggs, SAL, Choksy, S, & Webster, DW. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. 2017 October 3(5), 128-140.
- Effects of state-level policy changes on homicide and nonfatal shootings of law enforcement officers. Crifasi CK, Pollack KM, Webster DW. Inj Prev. 2016 Aug;22(4):274-8.
- Effects of changes in permit-to-purchase handgun laws in Connecticut and Missouri on suicide rates. Crifasi CK, Meyers JS, Vernick JS, Webster DW. Prev Med. 2015 Oct;79:43-9.
- Association Between Connecticut's Permit-to-Purchase Handgun Law and Homicides. Rudolph KE, Stuart EA, Vernick JS, Webster DW. Am J Public Health. 2015 Aug;105(8):e49-54.
- Effects of the repeal of Missouri's handgun purchaser licensing law on homicides. Webster D, Crifasi CK, Vernick JS. J Urban Health. 2014 Apr;91(2):293-302.
- Erratum to Effects of the repeal of Missouri's handgun purchaser licensing law on homicides
- Bracketing in the Comparative Interrupted Time-Series Design to Address Concerns about History Interacting with Group: Evaluating Missouri's Handgun Purchaser Law. Hasegawa RB, Webster DW, Small DS. Epidemiology. 2019
Center Reports
- The Impact of Handgun Purchaser Licensing on Gun Violence
- Policies to Reduce Gun Violence in Illinois: Research, Policy Analysis and Recommendations
Press Releases
- Handgun Licensing More Effective at Reducing Gun Deaths Than Background Checks Alone
Thu, 13 June 2019 - Report Offers Evidence-Based Recommendations Aimed at Reducing Illinois Gun Violence
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 - Handgun Purchaser Licensing Laws Linked To Fewer Firearm Homicides In Large, Urban Areas
Thu, 31 May 2018 - Suicide-By-Firearm Rates Shift in Two States After Changes in State Gun Laws
Tue, 01 Sep 2015 - Connecticut Handgun Licensing Law Associated With 40 Percent Drop in Gun Homicides
11 June 2015 - Repeal of Missouri's Background Check Law Associated with Increase in State's Murders
Mon, 17 Feb 2014
Podcasts and Other Resources
[1] Crifasi et al. Effects of changes in permit-to-purchase handgun laws in Connecticut and Missouri on suicide rates. Prev Med. 2015 Oct;79:43-9. Rudolph et al. Association Between Connecticut's Permit-to-Purchase Handgun Law and Homicides. Am J Public Health. 2015 Aug;105(8):e49-54. Webster et al. Effects of the repeal of Missouri's handgun purchaser licensing law on homicides. J Urban Health. 2014 Apr;91(2):293-302).