1. Permit to Purchase for
Decline in Death
2016
AN ANALYSIS OF GUN LAW REQUIREMENTS AND
THEIR EFFECT ON GUN VIOLENCE LEVELS ACROSS
STATES
MONICA SILVER
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS| POL 195 and 192 A/B

2. Silver 1
On July 20, 2012, a gunman opened fire into the audience of a midnight showing of “The
Dark Night Rises” in a movie theater in the town of Aurora, Colorado. Through use of an AR-15
rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and two .40 caliber handguns, the shooter, James Holmes, killed 12
people and injured 70 more. According to a report in the New York Times, law enforcement
officials stated that James Holmes purchased all of his weapons legally, as well as purchasing
3,000 rounds of handgun ammunition, 3,000 rounds for a semiautomatic rifle, and 350 rounds for
a 12 gauge shotgun, all over the Internet (Dao, James.) Although not the first mass shooting of
its’ kind, nor the last, the shooting in Aurora opened the already widening door even further for
the discussion on gun violence in America and our country’s failing gun control policies.
Although mass shootings do not account for the majority of firearms deaths and violence in the
nation, questions regarding how strict background checks of purchasers are, the ability to
purchase ammunition over the internet, and the need for mental health background checks
became a part of the discussion surrounding gun control in America as a result of the carnage in
Aurora. Four years later, our country still does not have answers to many of these questions, and
in fact, has seen a continued rise in gun violence and deaths by firearms across the nation. A few
more significant questions have arisen as individual states have begun to take it upon themselves
to control levels of gun violence. One such question is whether certain aspects of the permitting
or licensing processes actually help in decreasing gun violence, and whether states should focus
on one aspect of the process more than others.
Significance
Gun violence is a prevalent issue throughout the United States, with deaths due to
firearms escalating greatly in the last decade. Annually, there are over 30,000 deaths in the
United States, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and almost

3. Silver 2
100,000 American annually are gun violence victims (smartgunlaws.org.) In 2015, there were
almost 34,000 deaths due to gun violence nationwide. Despite the ever increasing numbers of
firearm deaths and injuries, the federal government has not enacted many new gun control
policies, such as policies to limit gun ownership numbers or licensing requirements. Rather,
individual states enact their own gun control policies, often in the form of licensing or permitting
requirements for gun purchasers within their state. There has been a great deal of support across
the nation for stricter gun purchasing requirements, with 77.3 percent of Americans strongly
supporting gun licensing laws in a public opinion poll, including 59.4 percent of gun owners also
polled (smart gun laws org.) While many states have enacted licensing or permitting
requirements in addition to their state and federal background check requirements, states
determine exactly what their licensing requirements entail prior to purchase and at the point of
purchase. This includes the amount of firearms allowed for purchase by an individual, safety
certification requirements, mental health background checks, criminal background checks, and
more. States often refer to these requirements as permit to purchase laws.
Background
13 states currently have laws requiring licensing or permitting for gun owners or
purchasers (smartgunlaws.org.) Although each of these states has unique requirements for their
firearms purchasers, they all qualify as permit to purchase states or license to own states due to
their requirements for gun owners or purchasers to hold a permit or license prior to the point of
purchasing a firearm. California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and
Rhode Island all have state laws requiring licensing for firearms purchasers. In the state of
California, the permit to purchase requirements are considered some of the strictest across the

4. Silver 3
nation. State law requires long gun purchasers to be at least 18 years of age or older, and
handgun purchasers to be at least 21 years of age. Additionally, individuals must submit to a
mandatory 10-day waiting period at the point of purchase, during which they must undergo a
criminal background check from the Department of Justice. Lastly, firearms purchasers in
California must also qualify for a Firearm Safety Certificate (FSC), which requires them to score
a 75 percent or higher on a handwritten safety exam provided by licensed firearms professionals.
The FSC certification remains valid for 5 years before renewal is necessary by each purchaser
and owner. California’s requirements fall under the category of permit to purchase, especially
due to the waiting period and the requirement for purchasers to qualify for an FSC. These
requirements go further than what many other states require for their firearms purchasers.
However, due to the variance in permitting and licensing policies across the 13 states,
California’s lack of certain aspects, such as mental health background checks, still allow for the
question of whether strengthening the requirements further would help in decreasing gun
violence in California.
California uses its’ state Department of Justice to conduct criminal background checks on
firearms purchasers during the 10-day mandatory waiting period. California also limits firearm
purchasers to one firearm purchase every thirty days. Despite these strict requirements,
California firearm purchasers are never required to waive their rights to a mental health
background check, and the state still experiences many gun deaths annually. Therefore, it
becomes easier under California policy for individuals who should not be able to legally
purchase a firearm, such as persons with a history of mental health issues or irresponsible gun
users, to purchase their own firearms.

5. Silver 4
Previous research has been conducted on gun control and firearm policymaking at the
federal level. Current federal gun control law is lacking, in that it allows for many individuals
with prior convictions for misdemeanor offenses to pass criminal background checks and legally
purchase firearms without submitting to a licensing or permitting process. Additional research
has shown that the amount of gun purchases and gun owners in states can affect the amount of
gun violence that occurs in each state. Research conducted by the Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence has shown that in comparison to the national average of gun violence, states that have
higher amounts of gun purchases also show a higher amount of gun violence in their states
(smartgunlaws.org.) However, little research has been conducted into whether certain aspects of
permitting or licensing processes, such as mental health background checks or safety training
requirements, assist in decreasing the overall amount of gun violence in individual states, and in
the country overall.
Arguments and Hypotheses
Despite having the strictest permitting laws of any state, according to the Law Center to
Prevent Gun Violence, California does not have the least amount of gun violence in the country
(smartgunlaws.org.) It ranks 9th overall in lowest gun death rates of all states, and has an average
of 8.5 deaths due to gun violence out of every 100,000 people in the state (New Trajectory.) In
comparison, Hawaii, which requires mental health background checks as part of their permitting
process, has an average of 3.8 deaths due to gun violence out of every 100,000 people and only
about 10 percent of gun ownership in all households (New Trajectory.) Additionally,
Massachusetts, which requires all firearms purchasers to qualify for a Firearm ID or a Class A or
B license, has the lowest amount of gun deaths of all states, an average of about 3 out of every
100,000 people and an ownership percentage of about 12 percent (New Trajectory.) Therefore, it

6. Silver 5
can be argued that the unique aspects of each states’ permit to purchase requirements may have a
large effect on the amount of gun violence that each state experiences. It can also be argued,
based on a case study of Missouri’s repeal of a permit to purchase law, that permit to purchase or
licensing requirements have a significant impact on the level of gun violence in that state.
It is expected that states requiring mental health background checks as part of their
permitting or licensing processes see a lesser amount of gun violence annually than states that do
not. It is also expected that states requiring an identification card, permit, or license for
purchasing all types of firearms will also see a lesser amount of gun violence annually than states
that do not. Lastly, it is expected that states that have permit to purchase requirements or
licensing processes that include safety training or certification programs experience less gun
violence annually and have lower percentages of gun ownership per household.
Due to the differences in state demographics, such as average population size, age,
ethnicity, gender, and more, it can be difficult to determine that these permitting and licensing
requirements are causing lower amounts of gun deaths per capita in each state. However, it is
expected that analysis of states in each category will show a clear correlation between certain
permitting or licensing requirements on firearms and lesser overall amounts of gun violence in
each state.

7. Silver 6
Source: Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb.
2016.
Research Design
In order to understand the effect that various permit to purchase requirements have on
levels of gun violence, it is necessary to compare states that have similar permitting or licensing
processes and their levels of gun violence to other states with different aspects of permitting or
licensing processes. Ideally, analyzing data at the county level would be the best way to do a
comparative study, as it would give us greater similarities between units of analysis, because all
of the counties are within one single state, potentially containing somewhat similar
demographics. However, due to a lack of data available at the county level, the best way to
effectively test these requirements against each other is to do a small-n study using the 13 states
that have permitting or licensing requirements. Additionally, examining the case of Missouri’s
repealed permit to purchase law provides insight into the benefit of stricter gun control laws
generally, and helps to make the argument for improving gun control policy on a national basis.

8. Silver 7
Source: gunlawsscorecard.org at Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent
Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
The first step is to examine the 13 states that have permitting or licensing requirements
for firearm purchasers and group them by similar permit to purchase or licensing laws. The Law
Center to Prevent Gun Violence provides a gun policy grade for every single state based on their
gun control policies and number of gun violence incidents annually (smartgunlaws.org.) Using
these gun policy grades, as well as the average amount of gun deaths per capita, each type of
permitting or licensing requirement can be compared to help determine which requirements
correlate with the least amount of firearms deaths. Lastly, each requirement type will be analyzed
in comparison to the other requirement types. Some states may fit into multiple categories, which
can assist in determining which licensing or permitting requirements make for the strongest gun

9. Silver 8
control laws, and therefore, which might have the most overall impact on decreasing gun
violence across the nation.
The first category in this analysis is states that require licensing or permitting for all
firearms without mandatory mental health screenings. It will be referred to as the All Firearms
category, and includes California, and Connecticut. California was scored with an A- grade for
their permitting requirements which include the Firearm Safety Certificate requirement, the
mandatory 10-day waiting period, and much more. California was also the first state to require
microstamping of handguns for crime-tracking purposes. However, despite their strict laws,
California still had 3,026 deaths from firearms in 2013, and at least 6,035 hospitalizations and
emergency room treatments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in the same year (smartgunlaws.org.)
Connecticut also received a grade of A- for their permitting requirements, including the
requirement of an eligibility certificate for both long gun and handgun purchases, requiring a
background check at gun shows, and prohibiting transfer and possession of assault weapons and
large capacity ammunition magazines. Connecticut had 161 deaths from firearms in 2013, the 4th
lowest rate of gun deaths per capita amongst the states (smartgunlaws.org.) California and
Connecticut both do not require purchasers to sign a mental health background check waiver.
California and Connecticut allow for permits to purchase to remain valid for a period of five
years. In comparison to the rest of the United States, they rank in the top ten states with the
strictest gun laws, and the top ten states with the lowest gun death rates.
Hawaii, Illinois, and New Jersey each have the added requirement of requiring firearms
purchasers to waive their rights to a mental health background check, in addition to similarities
with the permitting processes of California and Connecticut. According to the Law Center to
Prevent Gun Violence, Hawaii scores a B+ for regulating most of their firearms, requiring

10. Silver 9
purchasers to obtain a license, and banning most assault weapons and large ammunition
magazines (smartgunlaws.org.) Hawaii had the 2nd lowest amount of gun deaths per capita in
2013, with only 38 deaths by firearms. Illinois also requires firearms purchasers to waive their
rights to a mental health screening, as well as requiring each purchaser to qualify for a Firearm
Owner Identification Card (FOID.) Illinois received a score of B+ from the Law Center to
Prevent Gun Violence for their ten-year license requirement (FOID), their waiting periods of 72
hours for handguns and 24 hours for long guns, and their implementation of design safety
standards for some firearms (smartgunlaws.org.) Illinois had the 10th lowest amount of gun
deaths per capita in 2013, with approximately 1,178 people dying from firearms injuries. They
also do not have a required registration process for firearms owners or for firearms dealers. New
Jersey also require firearms purchasers to waive their right to a mental health background check.
They received a score of A- for their permitting requirement for all handguns, and a separate
Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (FPIC) for all shot gun and rifle purchases. The permits
for handguns remain valid for 90 days, and permits for long guns remain valid as long as the
purchaser remains eligible to possess a firearm. They had the 5th lowest number of gun deaths
per capita of all states, with an average of approximately 5 out of every 100,000 people dying
from firearms injuries. Each of these states is ranked amongst the top ten states with the strictest
gun laws, and amongst the top ten states with the lowest gun deaths per capita.
As of 2014, Massachusetts also requires reporting of all mentally ill individuals to the
federal database used to conduct firearms purchaser background checks. Although they do not
require purchasers to waive their right to a mental health background check, Massachusetts will
still be categorized under the Mental Health Background Check category for the purpose of this
study. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Massachusetts received a score of

11. Silver 10
A- for their licensing requirements of all firearms purchasers, their ban on some assault weapons
and large ammunitions magazines, and their maintenance of a permanent firearms sales record
(smartgunlaws.org.) Massachusetts had the lowest number of gun deaths per capita, with
approximately 3 out of every 100,000 people in the state dying due to firearms.
Many states only requiring licenses or permits for handgun purchases and ownership.
These states include Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, and
Rhode Island. However, Michigan only requires ownership and purchasing license if firearms are
not purchased from a licensed dealer, and Nebraska only requires licenses for purchases inside of
Omaha and purchases from private sales or transfers. Michigan received a C grade from the Law
Center to Prevent Gun Violence due to their requirements to report all handgun sales and
purchases from a private buyer to law enforcement, and reporting of all firearm thefts. They were
ranked 22nd among the states in gun deaths per capita with 1,190 deaths due to firearms injuries
in 2013 (smartgunlaws.org.) Nebraska received a grade of D for their requirement of reporting
handgun purchases from an unlicensed, private seller after a background check. However, their
inability to regulate ammunition or require background checks and permitting for long guns
contributes to their grade. They were ranked 11th of all states in gun deaths per capita, with
approximately 7.5 deaths due to firearms per every 100,000 people (smartgunlaws.org.)
Iowa, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island all require full licensing
for handgun purchases and ownership. Iowa received a score of C- from the Law Center to
Prevent Gun Violence for their annual permit requirement for handgun purchases, including a
background check and 3-day waiting period. In 2013, Iowa was tied for the 10th lowest number
of gun deaths per capita, with approximately 6 out of every 100,000 people dying from firearms
(smartgunlaws.org.) Maryland was scored with an A- grade for their requirements on licensing

12. Silver 11
handgun purchases and sales, background check requirements through the Maryland State
Police, and imposing a 7-day waiting period on transfers of a handgun or assault weapon. They
had the 15th lowest rate of gun deaths per capita, with 578 deaths from firearms in 2013
(smartgunlaws.org.) New York also received a score of A- for their background check
requirements for handgun purchases, their requirement of licensing handgun purchasers and
dealers, and their banning of most assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines.
They had the 3rd lowest number of gun deaths per capita in 2013, with an average of 5 per every
100,000 people dying due to firearms (smartgunlaws.org.) North Carolina received a score of an
F from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence for requiring handgun purchasers to obtain a
license following a background check, but failing to regulate long gun purchases or transfers, and
failing to significantly regulate firearms dealers. They were ranked 21st of all states in 2013 for
gun deaths per capita, with approximately 11.5 deaths due to firearms per every 100,000 people
(smartgunlaws.org.) Lastly, Rhode Island received a score of B+ for their licensing requirements
for all firearms dealers, their requirement of a safety certificate for all handgun purchasers, and
their requirement of a background check prior to transfers of firearms between individuals not
licensed as dealers. They were ranked 5th lowest amongst states in number of gun deaths per
capita in 2013, with approximately 5.5 deaths due to firearms per every 100,000 people
(smartgunlaws.org.) Although each of these states has very different requirements for their
permitting and licensing processes, they all do not require the regulation of long gun purchases
and ownerships. Therefore, they all fall under the category of Handgun Licensing/Permitting
Only.
Lastly, states requiring safety training or certification programs will be grouped together
to help determine if this requirement has an impact on decreasing levels of gun violence amongst

13. Silver 12
states. These states include California, Washington D.C, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, which
all require safety certifications or training prior to all firearm purchases and transfers. Hawaii,
Maryland, and Rhode Island also fall under this category, as they require safety certifications or
training for all handgun purchases and transfers. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence does
not grade Washington D.C, as it is classified as a district, and not a state (smartgunlaws.org.)
Therefore, it will not be included in this study.
Lastly, the state of Missouri provides an example of a correlation between permitting
requirements and lessening of overall amounts of gun violence. According to the Law Center to
Prevent Gun Violence, Missouri scores an F for failing to require a background check for
transfers of firearms between unlicensed parties, to require gun owners and purchasers to obtain
a license or register their firearms, and to impose a waiting period on firearms purchases.
Missouri was ranked 38th amongst states for deaths due to firearms per capita in 2013, with
approximately 14 out of every 100,000 people dying to gun violence (New Trajectory.)
Without conducting a full analysis of each category of permitting and licensing
requirements, there are a few preliminary findings that can be stated. States that require
permitting or licensing requirements for all firearm types, including a criminal background check
process, have lower amounts of gun deaths per capita than states that do not. Additionally, states
requiring firearms purchasers to waive their rights to mental health background checks have
lower gun deaths per capita in most cases than states that do not. Finally, states that require
safety certification or training programs, whether for all firearm types or only for handguns, have
lower amounts of gun deaths per capita than states that do not require any safety training or
certification at all.

14. Silver 13
Data and Measures
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence collects their data through a variety of ways.
When determining support for gun control laws, they use public opinion survey polls. The
information gathered on state gun laws is collected directly from state departments and enacted
pieces of legislation (smartgunlaw.org.) However, the grading system for state gun laws is of
their own design, meaning that it could be biased to favor states with certain gun law
requirements. In order to attempt to combat this potential bias, data collected from state crime
records and state gun sale records, originally compiled by Ceasefire Oregon will also be used to
analyze the effectiveness of various permitting and licensing requirements. This data may be
affected by the fact that not all states require gun owners and purchasers to register their
firearms. However, it is the most accurate data available at this point. The data for the states
considered to fall under permit to purchase laws are what will be used in this analysis.
The data from Ceasefire Oregon shows the amount of gun deaths per every 100,000
residents of any state, as well as the percentage of households owning guns (New Trajectory.)
While the original data is meant to show a correlation between owning more guns and having
greater amounts of gun violence, this study will use this data to show that there is a correlation
between certain permit to purchase requirements and less gun violence. It is expected that, due to
stricter permit to purchase requirements, there will naturally be a lesser amount of gun ownership
in these states.

15. Silver 14
Source: New Trajectory. Ceasefire Oregon, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
Analysis
In order to analyze this data, the different types of requirements for permitting or
licensing laws will be compared to each other by examining all of the states that fall into that
category. Additionally, the state gun law grades, as determined by the Law Center to Prevent
Gun Violence, and their average amount of gun deaths per every 100,000 people will be
compared to each other. Solely based on the gun grades provided by Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence, there is a clear correlation between gun laws including licensing or permitting of all
firearms, mental health background checks and waivers, and safety training programs and
certifications to lower amounts of gun violence (which is part of how the state gun laws are
graded.)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Gundeathsper100,000people
Percentages of Households owninga Gun
Gun ownership vs. gun deaths per statein 2013
Hawaii
Massachusett
New Jersey
Rhode Island Connecticut
New York
Illinois
California
Maryland
North Carolina
Michigan
Nebraska
Iowa

16. Silver 15
States Category Second Category (if
applicable)
Grade
California All Firearm Safety Training A-
Connecticut All Firearm Safety Training A-
Hawaii Mental Health
Background Check
Safety Training B+
Illinois Mental Health
Background Check
N/A B
New Jersey Mental Health
Background Check
N/A A-
Massachusetts Mental Health
Background Check
Safety Training B+
Michigan Handguns Only N/A C
Nebraska Handguns Only N/A D
Iowa Handguns Only N/A C-
Maryland Handguns Only Safety Training A-
New York Handguns Only N/A A-
North Carolina Handguns Only N/A F
Rhode Island Handguns Only Safety Training B-
Source: Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb.
2016.

17. Silver 16
However, to attempt to combat any biases that the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence may
have in their scoring system, it is also necessary to look at annual gun deaths in each state based
on their categorization.
The first category to be analyzed is the All Firearms category. California and Connecticut
are the only two states that have been placed in this category. They both received gun grades of
A- from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and both require criminal background checks
as part of their permitting processes. In comparison to each other, California has a greater
amount of average gun deaths per every 100,000 people than Connecticut, a difference of
approximately 3 gun deaths. There may be many reasons for this gap, including population size
or demographics, but this study will solely focus on the number of gun deaths per 100,000
people due to the lack of data provided at county and city levels. The numbers are still low in
comparison to the rest of the nation, but a comparison to other permitting and licensing states is
now necessary to determine exactly how effective these states’ laws are in lessening gun
violence.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
California Connecticut
NumberofGunDeatsperevery
100,000people
States
ALL Firearms Permitted or Licensed Category

18. Silver 17
Next, the states falling into the Mental Health Background Check category will be
examined. These states are Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Hawaii received a
grade of B+ from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Illinois received a B, New Jersey
received an A-, and Massachusetts received a B+. In analyzing the number of gun deaths per
every 100,000 people, Massachusetts actually comes up strongest with only 3 gun deaths on
average. Hawaii is close behind with 3.8, New Jersey with 5, and Illinois topping out at 8.
In comparing these results to the state gun law grades, a few interesting results show. The first is
that despite receiving the best grade out of all of the states requiring mental health background
checks, New Jersey actually has slightly more gun deaths per every 100,000 people than both
Hawaii and Massachusetts. Additionally, all of the states requiring mental health background
checks for firearms purchasers have lower amounts of average gun deaths than the states that
simply require all firearms purchasers to have a permit or license. Unsurprisingly, Illinois, which
received the lowest grade from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, also had the highest
amount of gun deaths on average of the mental health background check states, although still
lower than either California or Connecticut. Again, these results could have outside influences,
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Hawaii Illinois New Jersey Massachusetts
Gundeathsperevery100,000people
States
Mental Health Background Checks Category

19. Silver 18
such as demographics or population size, but overall, it can be seen that including a mental
health background check in a permitting or licensing requirement does help to strengthen gun
control laws in states.
The next category to be examined is the Handguns Only category, which includes states
requiring only handgun purchases to be permitted or licensed. These states include Iowa,
Maryland, North Carolina, New York, and Rhode Island. Additionally, Michigan and Nebraska
are included in this category for analysis, despite the fact that they only require permits for
purchase in certain areas of their states or for certain types of purchases. Michigan received a C
gun law grade from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Nebraska received a D grade, Iowa
received a C-, Maryland received an A-, New York received an A-, North Carolina received an
F, and Rhode Island received a B-. In analyzing these states and their average gun deaths per
100,000 people, we see some interesting results. Nebraska, which received a D grade, actually
has less average gun deaths than states such as Michigan and Maryland. Additionally, New
York, which has a large population and very diverse demographics, two variables that might be
expected to affect gun death levels, actually has the lowest amount of gun deaths of all the states
in this category. Maryland, which also received an A- grade, actually has the second highest
number of gun deaths of any state with permitting or licensing requirements. As expected, North
Carolina, which received an F grade, has the highest number of gun deaths of any state with
permitting or licensing laws.

20. Silver 19
The final category for analysis is the Safety Training category. Many states require an
additional safety training or certification program, in addition to their background checks, for
purchasers to qualify for licenses or permits for firearms. California, Connecticut, Hawaii,
Massachusetts, Maryland, and Rhode Island all require these programs. In examining these states
based on this requirement, it is interesting that Maryland and California, both graded with A- by
the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, have the highest amounts of gun deaths per 100,000
people. However, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, and Rhode Island all remain low in
comparison to the other two states in the category.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Michigan Nebraska Iowa Maryland New York North
Carolina
Rhode
Island
Gundeathsper100,000people
States
Handguns Only Permitting Category
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Gundeathsper100,000people
States
Safety Training Category

21. Silver 20
After analyzing each category of permitting or licensing requirements by state, it is
beneficial to compare the categories side by side. In averaging the gun deaths of states in each
category, it becomes clear there are a few clear indicators for which requirements lead to lower
levels of gun violence in states. The first is the mental health background check. The states that
require their firearms purchasers to have a mental health background check average lower
amounts of gun deaths per every 100,000 people than the states that do not require these types of
background checks. Additionally, states requiring that all types of firearms purchases require a
permit or license have an average lesser amount of gun deaths than states that do not, as seen in
the comparison between the all firearms category and the handguns only category. Lastly, states
that require a safety certification or training program for firearms purchasers tend to have an
average lower amount of gun deaths than states that do not. Therefore, it can be argued that,
based on the analysis of permit to purchase and licensing requirements across states, laws
requiring mental health background checks, licensing or permitting for all firearms purchases,
and safety training or certification programs would make for the strongest gun laws. States that

22. Silver 21
have two or more of these requirements tend to have the lowest amount of deaths due to guns.
Therefore, it is likely that states incorporating all three of these requirements would have even
lower amounts of gun deaths, and that these requirements would be the best practices for states
to institute to lower gun violence levels.
Lastly, the case of Missouri can be analyzed to demonstrate a strong correlation between
stricter gun control laws and lesser overall amounts of gun violence. Missouri repealed its permit
to purchase handgun licensing law and background checks requirements in 2007, which was
linked to a 14 percent increase in murder rates in the state, and almost a 5 percent increase in
firearm homicide rates through 2012 (smartgunlaws.org.) This translated into an additional 49 to
68 murders annually in the state. Other research also confirmed that the repeal resulted in an
estimated 16.1 percent increase in the firearm suicide rate in the state (smartgunlaws.org.) In
comparison, Connecticut determined that, in the ten years following their implementation of
permit to purchase handgun laws, the state saw a 40 percent reduction in the firearm homicide
rate, and approximately a 15.4 percent reduction in firearm suicide rates. The research concluded
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
All Firearms Mental Health
Background Checks
Hanguns Only Safety Training
Gundeathsper100,000people
Permitting Requirement Categories
AverageGun Deaths by Permitting Requirement
Categories

23. Silver 22
that the decline was only in regards to suicides and homicides by firearms, showing a clear
correlation between permit to purchase institution and decreases in gun violence
(smartgunlaws.org.)
Policy Suggestions
In understanding that states are able to control their own gun laws, there are certain
policy suggestions that could be made on a state by state basis. There are also changes that must
be made in how data on gun violence and firearms purchases is recorded. For example, the lack
of data that is available at the county and city level makes it very difficult to understand if gun
violence levels are a result of certain population demographics, environment, or any other
variables. It also appears that data is not kept at the county or city level on firearm purchases,
meaning that it is difficult to determine if gun violence stems from certain areas within states,
and thus those areas should be targeted, or whether it is more widespread within a single state.
Therefore, better records must be kept by local governments on gun purchases, so as to help
determine how best to approach gun licensing and permitting, at the local, state, and federal
level.
In order to best affect positive change in gun violence levels within California, the state
should require all firearms purchasers to waive their rights to a mental health background check.
Not only could this help to lessen incidents of mass shootings and homicides, but it could also
significantly bring down the rate of suicides by gun. California has been a consistent leader in
the nation for being active against gun violence. Instituting a mental health background check
requirement would only strengthen the already existing permitting requirements of the state.
California should also incentivize the local governments of the state to track their gun purchase
data, as well as their gun violence data, in a way that allows for better analysis of the areas that

24. Silver 23
need more intervention to prevent gun violence. This would allow for the state to better assist in
targeting counties and cities that experience greater levels of gun violence than the rest of the
state.
The federal government could best affect change by requiring all states to institute a
permitting or licensing law for all handgun purchases, if not all firearms types. This would allow
for better tracking of gun purchases, which would assist the federal government in effectively
determining their own best practices for decreasing gun violence in the United States.
Additionally, instituting a program to incentivize states to institute their own permitting or
licensing policies would allow for the federal government to assist in lessening gun violence
across the nation. Due to the fact that many stakeholders believe that the federal government
should not infringe on the rights of citizens to “bear arms,” as per the second amendment of the
constitution, incentivizing states to implement their own policies will better allow for stronger
gun control across the nation without major intervention at the federal level.
For all of these policy suggestions, the direct stakeholders would be citizens who wish to
purchase firearms, or already own firearms, and victims of gun violence. In some ways, these
permitting or licensing policies will affect direct stakeholders positively, through bringing down
gun violence levels, meaning less victims of gun violence. Additionally, introducing these
policies will allow for better safety training for firearms purchasers and owners, and will ensure
that only truly responsible firearms purchasers have access to guns. The negative effects on
direct stakeholders would be on firearms purchasers who are not qualified to own a firearm. A
stricter purchasing process would lead to less unqualified firearms purchasers and owners being
able to legally purchase guns. Additionally, there are indirect stakeholders to this policy, such as
firearms dealers and the citizens of the United States. The negative effects for firearms dealers

25. Silver 24
would be less gun sales, as there will be less qualified purchasers under a stricter purchasing
process. Additionally, this could mean that firearms and ammunition could increase in prices,
which would be a negative effect for United States citizens who wish to purchase these products.
However, the positive effect for citizens would be the decrease in gun violence throughout the
nation, a number which has been increasing annually over the past decade.
Despite the negative effects that instituting stricter gun control policies may have on
some firearms purchasers and firearms dealers, it is clear that permit to purchase laws and
licensing policies have a clear correlation with lessening gun violence numbers across states. In
order to be most effective in instituting these types of policies, the firearms coalitions, such as
the National Rifle Association (NRA), must be convinced that this will not force responsible gun
owners to give up their gun rights. Additionally, citizens who fear that stricter gun control
policies will lead to them losing their rights to own firearms must be persuaded that these
permitting and licensing processes will solely assist in limiting the amount of irresponsible
firearms owners that are currently able to purchase firearms without any sort of background
check or safety training program requirements. The issue of gun control has been a very
important topic for the citizens of the United States, especially in the last few decades. If
stakeholders can be persuaded to understand that instituting permit to purchase or licensing
policies across the nation will help to decrease gun violence without limiting the abilities of
responsible firearms owners to purchase or own guns, then the United States can begin to make
efficient progress on combatting gun violence and can work towards becoming a safer nation for
all.

26. Silver 25
Works Cited
Dao, James. "Aurora Gunman’s Arsenal: Shotgun, Semiautomatic Rifle, and at the End, a
Pistol." The New York Times. N.p., 23 July 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
New Trajectory. Ceasefire Oregon, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
Smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.