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Home  ›  How Many States Require Background Checks For Private Gun Sales

How Many States Require Background Checks For Private Gun Sales

Written By Thursday, May 26, 2022 Add Comment Edit

Universal background checks are essential to shut deadly loopholes in our laws that permit millions of guns to end up in the hands of individuals at an elevated chance of committing violence each year.

Though more than than 90% of the American public supports groundwork checks for all gun sales, a dangerous and mortiferous loophole in federal gun laws even so exempts unlicensed sellers from having to perform any background check whatsoever before selling a firearm. With this loophole, guns easily observe their fashion into the hands of illegal buyers and gun traffickers, dramatically increasing the likelihood of gun homicides and suicides.

Background

45%

online gun buyers without a background cheque

A recent big-calibration survey constitute that 45% of gun owners who acquired a gun online in the past two years did and so without any background check.

Source

Matthew Miller, Lisa Hepburn, and Deborah Azrael, "Firearm Conquering Without Background Checks: Results of a National Survey," Register of Internal Medicine 166, no. 4 (2017): 233–239.

A dangerous gap in our federal gun laws lets people buy guns without passing a groundwork check. Under current law, unlicensed sellers—people who sell guns online, at gun shows, or anywhere else without a federal dealer'southward license—can transfer firearms without having to run any groundwork check whatsoever.

Because of this loophole, people who are subject to domestic violence convictions or court orders, people who take been bedevilled of vehement crimes, and people ineligible to possess firearms for mental wellness reasons can easily purchase guns from unlicensed sellers with no background cheque in most states. In fact, an estimated 22% of US gun owners acquired their about recent firearm without a groundwork bank checki—which translates to millions of Americans acquiring millions of guns, no questions asked, each yr.

When groundwork checks are required and properly enforced, they can block illegal gun sales and proceed mortiferous weapons out of the hands of people with the most significant histories of violence or irresponsible behavior.

  • Since the federal background check requirement was adopted in 1994, over 3 million people legally prohibited from possessing a gun have been stopped from purchasing a gun or denied a permit to purchase.ii More than 35% of these denials involved people convicted of felony offenses.iii
  • Groundwork check laws besides aid forestall guns from being diverted to the illegal gun market. States without universal background check laws export crime guns beyond state lines at a xxx% higher rate than states that crave groundwork checks on all gun sales.4

Nevertheless, in the absenteeism of a comprehensive background check organization, people who are ineligible to possess firearms routinely exploit the massive loopholes in our laws.

  • Around fourscore% of all firearms acquired for criminal purposes are obtained through transfers from unlicensed sellers,5 and 96% of inmates convicted of gun offenses who were already prohibited from possessing a firearm at the time of the criminal offence obtained their firearm from an unlicensed seller.vi
  • Individuals who commit crimes with firearms may intentionally seek to purchase guns from sellers who aren't required to run background checks. Purchasers from Armslist.com, a major online firearms marketplace, were nearly seven times as likely to have a firearm-prohibiting criminal record than people attempting to buy guns from licensed dealers.vii (This is discussed more fully on our page on online gun sales.)

Contempo examples testify that loopholes in our groundwork check organization can take dangerous and deadly consequences.

  • In 2019, a man fatally shot seven people and wounded 25 others in W Texas. The shooter previously failed a criminal background check when trying to purchase a gun, however loopholes in our nation's gun laws allowed him to featherbed the background bank check system altogether and obtain the AR-style weapon used in his mortiferous attack from an unlicensed seller who wasn't required to run a background bank check.8
  • In 2018, in Appleton, WI, a man who was prohibited from purchasing a gun because he was out on bond for a firearm-related felony domestic violence case purchased a firearm from an unlicensed seller on Armslist.com without a groundwork check. The side by side solar day he used the gun to kill his wife.9
  • In 2016, a woman was killed, and their 2 children shot by an ex-boyfriend, who purchased the gun from an unlicensed seller without a background bank check. He was prohibited from purchasing a firearm due to a domestic violence restraining order and a awaiting domestic bombardment example.10
  • In 2014, a gunman in W Virginia killed four people, including his ex-girlfriend, with a gun he purchased from an online seller without a background check. He was prohibited from purchasing firearms due to multiple felony convictions.11

Background checks are easy, convenient, and impose well-nigh no brunt on law-abiding gun purchasers.

  • In at least 90% of cases, firearm background checks processed through the National Instant Criminal Background Cheque System (NICS) are resolved immediately. The average processing time for an electronic NICS-check is less than two minutes—107 seconds, to be precise.12
  • Opposite to gun-lobby claims, background checks rarely provide false-positive results. The FBI's quality command evaluations propose that background checks are authentic approximately 99.3 to 99.viii% of the time.13

For more than a decade, the vast bulk of the American public has supported laws requiring background checks on all firearm purchases,fourteen with polling information consistently showing that more 90% of both gun owners and not-gun owners support this policy.xv Strong back up for background check laws has as well been measured among NRA members, with at least 69% supporting comprehensive background checks.16

Universal background checks are a necessary foundation for whatever policy that aims to proceed firearms out of the hands of people convicted of domestic abuse and other ineligible people. All the same, other improvements should also exist made in the existing background bank check system. For farther information on how federal and land background checks work, meet our pages on Background Check Procedures and Reporting Procedures.

Summary of Federal Law

Federal law imposes various duties on federally licensed firearms dealers. Firearms dealers must, amidst other things:

  • Perform background checks on prospective firearm purchasers.
  • Maintain records of all gun sales.
  • Make those records available to law enforcement for inspection.
  • Written report certain multiple sales.
  • Report the theft or loss of a firearm from the licensee'due south inventory.17

Federal police imposes none of these requirements on unlicensed sellers, however.

The Gun Control Human activity of 1968 provides that persons "engaged in the business organisation" of dealing in firearms must be licensed.xviii Although Congress did not originally ascertain the term "engaged in the business," it did so in 1986 as part of the McClure-Volkmer Act (also known equally the Firearms Owners' Protection Act). That act defined the term "engaged in the concern," every bit applied to a firearms dealer, equally "a person who devotes time, attending, and labor to dealing in firearms every bit a regular course of merchandise or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms."xix

Significantly, all the same, the term was defined to exclude a person who "makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal drove or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms."20 Co-ordinate to a 1999 report issued by the Bureau of Booze, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the current definition of "engaged in the business" frequently frustrates the prosecution of "unlicensed dealers masquerading as collectors or hobbyists simply who are actually trafficking firearms to felons or other prohibited persons."21

Summary of State Law

20-one states and Washington DC have extended the groundwork check requirement beyond federal law to at least some gun sales from unlicensed sellers.

21

States with Background Cheque Laws

21 states and the Commune of Columbia accept extended background checks beyond federal law. Of these, 16 states and DC require groundwork checks for all gun sales.

Fourteen states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada , New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington) and the District of Columbia by and large require universal groundwork checks at the bespeak of sale for all sales of all classes of firearms, whether they are purchased from a licensed dealer or an unlicensed seller.22 (Nearly of these states' background check laws apply both to sales and other non-temporary firearm transfers, although laws enacted in New Mexico and Virginia exempt transfers that are not made for a fee or other remuneration).

In addition, Pennsylvania requires point of auction background checks for handguns simply non for long guns, like rifles and shotguns.

Instead of a point of sale background cheque, 3 states (Hawaii, Illinois, and Massachusetts) require all firearm purchasers to obtain a permit, issued after a background check, in order to buy any firearm. Illinois' law is somewhat stronger since it requires unlicensed sellers to contact the State Police at the point of auction to verify the that the transferee'southward firearms license remains valid, and requires the State Police to continuously monitor relevant databases to ensure that license holders remain eligible to keep their firearm license.23 Illinois as well requires a betoken of sale cheque whenever a firearm is sold at a gun show.24

New Bailiwick of jersey requires firearm purchasers to both obtain a permit to purchase a firearm and, if the purchase is from an unlicensed seller, bear the transaction through a federally-licensed firearms dealer.25 Three more states (Michigan, Nebraska, and Due north Carolina) have this allow and background check requirement for the purchase of handguns, but non long guns.

Land Laws Closing the Private Sale Loophole

Background Checks at the Bespeak of Transfer

The most comprehensive approach to ensuring that guns are not sold to ineligible people requires a background check to be completed by a licensed dealer or law enforcement at the point that any firearm is sold or transferred to another owner. Processing these transfers through licensed dealers or constabulary enforcement helps to ensure that a background cheque will be conducted prior to whatsoever transfer.

States that Require a Groundwork Cheque at the Bespeak of Transfer

  • California26
  • Colorado27
  • Connecticut28
  • Delaware29
  • District of Columbiathirty
  • Maryland 31
  • Nevada32
  • New Jersey33
  • New Mexico (Applies to firearm sales, but not transfers fabricated without consideration)34
  • New York35
  • Oregon36
  • Pennsylvania (handguns only)37
  • Rhode Island38
  • Vermont39
  • Virginiatwoscore
  • Washington41

California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington generally crave all firearm transfers to be conducted past or processed through licensed dealers, who conduct background checks on prospective firearm purchasers or recipients. In the District of Columbia, firearms may be sold and transferred only by or to a licensed dealer.

Rhode Isle requires all sellers to obtain a completed application form from the prospective purchaser and to submit the form to law enforcement for purposes of conducting a background check. Connecticut requires any person transferring a firearm to either submit a form to law enforcement or comport the transfer through a licensed dealer, so that a groundwork cheque is conducted for every auction or transfer.

Pennsylvania requires a background check for every prospective handgun sale or transfer, and provides that the background check may be conducted either by a licensed dealer or a designated law enforcement agency.

New Mexico and Virginia require background checks for firearms sales, but not for other types of transfers, such as gifts or long-term loans. Both states crave that the background check exist conducted through a licensed firearms dealer.42

GET THE FACTS

Gun violence is a complex problem, and while there'south no one-size-fits-all solution, we must act. Our reports bring you the latest cutting-edge research and analysis about strategies to end our country'south gun violence crisis at every level.

Learn More

State Permit Requirements for Private Purchasers

Twelve states and the Commune of Columbia impose background checks on individual purchasers through a permitting or licensing system. In these states, a purchaser must obtain a permit that includes a background check in order to purchase a firearm. The permits may be valid for as short as 10 days or as long as x years. Country licensing requirements are discussed in greater detail on our licensing policy folio.

While these requirements ensure that a groundwork bank check has been conducted at some bespeak prior to purchase, a person may fall within a prohibited category after the license or allow is issued merely earlier the time the person attempts to purchase a firearm. As a result, licensing laws practise not necessarily prevent ineligible people from accessing firearms. Some states that require purchasers to obtain a allow also require a background cheque at the point of sale to ensure that a purchaser has not fallen into a prohibited category afterwards he or she obtained the allow.

States that Require a Background Check to Purchase from Private Sellers through a Allow Requirement

  • Connecticut (besides requires a betoken of sale background check)43
  • District of Columbia (also requires a bespeak of sale background check)44
  • Hawaii45
  • Illinois46
  • Maryland (handguns only; also requires a point of sale background cheque)47
  • Massachusetts48
  • Michigan (handguns merely)49
  • Nebraska (handguns only)fifty
  • New Jersey51 (also requires a signal of sale background check)
  • New York (handguns just. Also requires point of sale groundwork check)52
  • North Carolina (handguns only)53
  • Rhode Isle (handguns only. As well requires indicate of sale background bank check)54

California and Washington accomplish universal groundwork checks through point of transfer checks, but both states additionally require purchasers to obtain a firearm safety certificate that does not require a background check.

Gun Show Groundwork Checks

nine%

of gun sales have place at gun shows

Firearm purchases from gun shows business relationship for 4% to 9% of annual firearm sales, and 3% of gun owners report acquiring their near recent firearm from a gun show.

Source

Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, Guns in America: Results of a Comprehensive National Survey on Firearms Ownership and Employ (Washington DC: Police Foundation, 1996); Garen Wintemute, "Inside Gun Shows: What Goes On When Everybody Thinks Nobody'south Watching," UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, 2009; Matthew Miller, Lisa Hepburn, and Deborah Azrael, "Firearm Acquisition Without Background Checks: Results of a National Survey," Annals of Internal Medicine 166, no. 4 (2017): 233–239.

A loophole in federal police that does non require background checks on sales of guns past individual or unlicensed individuals is often referred to as the "gun prove loophole." This is somewhat misleading, however, every bit sales of firearms by unlicensed individuals can occur anywhere, not just at gun shows. Unless a state has airtight this loophole, unlicensed sellers are not required by federal police to bear groundwork checks on buyers, whether the auction occurs at a gun show or over the internet through a site like armslist.com. Come across our folio on Interstate and Online Gun Sales for more information nigh sales conducted over the internet.

Currently, 21 states and the District of Columbia require background checks on sales of some or all types of firearms past private individuals, whether the sale occurs at a gun evidence or elsewhere. For more information about the regulation of gun shows, run into our summary on Gun Shows.

Primal Legislative Elements

The features listed below are intended to provide a framework from which policy options may be considered. Any jurisdiction considering new legislation should consult with counsel.

  • For all firearm transfers, private sellers are subject to similar requirements as licensed dealers, including background checks and record-keeping requirements.
  • The most comprehensive policy pick requires all firearm transfers to be conducted through licensed dealers, so that groundwork checks will be completed on all purchasers (including purchases from unlicensed sellers), and sales records will be maintained (see California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington).
  • If the jurisdiction does not require that all firearm transfers be conducted through licensed dealers, private sellers should be required to:
    • Conduct background checks through a primal police force enforcement agency that has access to federal and state databases of prohibited purchasers (Rhode Island requires private sellers to bear background checks straight through law enforcement; Connecticut requires individual sellers to conduct background checks through licensed dealers or law enforcement).
    • Maintain records of all firearm transfers for a lengthy period (Illinois requires all sellers to retain sales records for at least ten years).
    • Report all transfers to country and local police force enforcement (see Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts).

Firearm Prohibitions

Our laws incorporate notable gaps that allow individuals who take demonstrated a significant take a chance of violence to possess firearms.

Background Bank check Procedures

Americans overwhelmingly support background checks for all gun sales to preclude individuals who have get prohibited under state and federal laws from possessing guns.

Gun Dealers

Increased oversight of gun dealers is critical to prevent irresponsible and unsafe transfers of firearms.

  1. Matthew Miller, Lisa Hepburn & Deborah Azrael, "Firearm Acquisition Without Background Checks," Annals of Internal Medicine 166, no. 4 (2017): 233–239. [↩]
  2. Jennifer Karberg, et al., "Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2015—Statistical Tables," U.s.a. Department of Justice: Bureau of Justice Statistics (2017), https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bcft15st.pdf.[↩]
  3. Id.[↩]
  4. Daniel Due west. 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. iv (2009): 525–537; Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, Emma E. McGinty, and Ted Alcorn, "Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws," in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Prove and Analysis (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), 109–121.[↩]
  5. Katherine A. Vittes, Jon South. Vernick, and Daniel Westward. Webster, "Legal Status and Source of Offenders' Firearms in States with the To the lowest degree Stringent Criteria for Gun Ownership," Injury Prevention 19, no. 1 (2013): 26-31.[↩]
  6. Id.[↩]
  7. "Unchecked," Everytown for Gun Safety, February 2019, https://everytownresearch.org/documents/2019/02/singles-unchecked-bifold-020119d.pdf/.[↩]
  8. Ryan W. Miller, "Gunman in Texas Shooting Bought Gun in Private Sale: Here's What We Know," U.s.a. Today, September 3, 2019, https://bit.ly/2khMbBp.[↩]
  9. Alison Dirr, "Five Years Apart, Armslist was Source of Guns in High-Profile Domestic Violence Deaths," Appleton Postal service-Crescent, September 19, 2018, https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/law-breaking/2018/09/nineteen/guns-harrison-murder-suicide-azana-shooting-plant-same-website/1224081002/.[↩]
  10. Kimber Laux, "Written report reveals details about North Las Vegas mean solar day care shooting," Las Vegas Review Journal, June 17, 2016, https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/homicides/report-reveals-details-about-northward-las-vegas-day-care-shooting/.[↩]
  11. "Appendix: Mass Shootings in the The states, 2009–2017," Everytown for Gun Safety, December 2018, https://everytownresearch.org/documents/2018/12/appendix-mass-shootings-report-2009-2017.pdf.[↩]
  12. "National Instant Criminal Background Check System Celebrates 20 Years of Service," Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Data Services, November thirty, 2018, https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/cjis-link/national-instant-criminal-background-bank check-organization-celebrates-twenty-years-of-service; "Most NICS," Federal Bureau of Investigation, Accessed June 3, 2019, https://world wide web.fbi.gov/services/cjis/nics/about-nics.[↩]
  13. Function of the Inspector General, "Inspect of the Handling of Firearms Purchase Denials Through the National Instant Criminal Background Check Arrangement," Usa Section of Justice, September 2016, https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/a1632.pdf.[↩]
  14. For example, a 2008 poll showed 87% support for groundwork checks on individual gun sales. Garen J. Wintemute, Anthony A. Braga, and David M. Kennedy, "Private–party Gun Sales, Regulation, and Public Safe," 363 NewEngland Journal of Medicine, no. 6 (2010): 508–511.[↩]
  15. "U.S. Support For Gun Control Tops ii-one, Highest Ever, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Let Dreamers Stay, fourscore Per centum Of Voters Say," Quinnipiac University Poll, February 20, 2018, https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2521.[↩]
  16. Brett Samuels, "Poll: Most NRA Members Support Comprehensive Groundwork Checks," The Colina, March 8, 2018, https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/377455-poll-about-nra-members-support-comprehensive-background-checks.[↩]
  17. 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(t), 923(thousand).[↩]
  18. 18 U.Southward.C § 921(a)(21)(C).[↩]
  19. Id.[↩]
  20. Id[↩]
  21. U.South. Department of Justice & Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, U.Southward. Section of the Treasury, Gun Shows: Brady Checks and Crime Gun Traces 13-fourteen (Jan. 1999).[↩]
  22. These states adopted their universal background cheque laws in this club: Washington D.C. (conducts universal background checks equally role of a firearm registration law that was enacted in 1975), Rhode Island (1990), California (1991), New York (2013), Colorado (2013), Connecticut (2013), Delaware (2013), Washington (2014 past voter initiative), Oregon (2015), Vermont (2018), Nevada (2019), New Mexico (2019), Virginia (2020), and Maryland (2020) (Prior to 2020, Maryland only required point of sale groundwork checks for handguns and assault weapons).[↩]
  23. Come across 2021 IL HB 562; 430 ILCS 65/3(a-10).[↩]
  24. 430 ILCS 65/three(a-5); 65/3.1.[↩]
  25. N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-3.[↩]
  26. Cal. Penal Lawmaking §§ 27545, 27850-28070.[↩]
  27. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-112; 2013 Colo. H.B. 1229. Run across also Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-26.1-101 – 12-26.one-108.[↩]
  28. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 29-33(c), 29-36l(f), 29-37a(e)-(j). 2013 Ct. ALS 3. See as well Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-37g (pre-existing police requiring a background check before a firearm is sold at a gun show).[↩]
  29. Del. Code tit. 11, § 1448B, tit. 24, § 904A.[↩]
  30. D.C. Code Ann. § seven-2505.02.[↩]
  31. Doctor. Code Ann., Pub. Safety §§ 5-101(t), 5-124 (handguns and assault weapons only); id. § five-204.1 (rifles and shotguns other than assault weapons). Assault weapons are now generally banned in Maryland.[↩]
  32. Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 202.2547.[↩]
  33. N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-3.[↩]
  34. 2019 NM South eight, enacting Northward.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-7-7.1.[↩]
  35. Due north.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 898. 2013 NY ALS 1. Encounter besides N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 895-897; North.Y. Penal Law § 400.00 (pre-existing law requiring a background bank check before sale of a firearm at a gun prove).[↩]
  36. Or. Rev. Stat. § 166.435. At gun shows, Oregon law allows a transferor who is not a licensed dealer to contact the Section of Country Police direct to conduct the background check. Or. Rev. Stat. § 166.436.[↩]
  37. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6111(b), (c), (f)(2).[↩]
  38. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ eleven-47-35 – 11-47-35.2.[↩]
  39. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. xiii, § 4019, enacted by 2017 SB 55, Sec. 6.[↩]
  40. Va. Lawmaking Ann. §§ 18.two-308.2:2; 18.2-308.2:5.[↩]
  41. Rev. Code Wash. § 9.41.113. In 2014, Washington became the first state to enact a police requiring background checks on private sales by voter initiative. Meet Initiative Mensurate No. 594, bachelor at http://sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/FinalText_483.pdf.[↩]
  42. In Virginia, sales at a gun show can exist processed by the State Police.[↩]
  43. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 29-33, 29-36f – 29-36i, 29-37a, 29-38g – 29-38j.[↩]
  44. D. C. Code Ann. §§ 7-2502.01 – seven-2502.10; D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 24, D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 24, §§ 2311 – 2320.[↩]
  45. Haw. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 134-2, 134-13.[↩]
  46. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 65/1 – 65/15a, 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/24-3(k). Since 2014, Illinois has required a seller to contact law enforcement and verify the validity of the purchaser's permit (called a FOID Menu) at the fourth dimension of the auction.[↩]
  47. Md. Lawmaking Ann. Pub. Safety § five-117.1.[↩]
  48. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, §§ 121, 129B, 129C, 131, 131A, 131E, 131P.[↩]
  49. Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 28.422, 28.422a.[↩]
  50. Nib. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 69-2404, 69-2407, 69-2409.[↩]
  51. N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-iii.[↩]
  52. Due north.Y. Penal Law §§ 400.00 – 400.01.[↩]
  53. N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-402 – 14-404.[↩]
  54. R. I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-47-35 – xi-47-35.1.[↩]

How Many States Require Background Checks For Private Gun Sales,

Source: https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/background-checks/universal-background-checks/

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