The Background Check Expansion Act in the Senate and the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2023 in the House of Representatives both aim to close loopholes in the existing federal law that only requires background checks when the gun seller is a licensed dealer. Federal law prohibits certain categories of people from having guns, including people with felony convictions, certain domestic abusers, and fugitives from justice.
Background checks, using both federal databases as well as information from local law enforcement, should be performed before all firearm purchases. These should be applied not only to firearms sold at federally licensed firearm dealers but for all transactions resulting in firearm sales. These transactions include those at gun shows, private sales and transfers, and online purchases, similar to how privately sold motor vehicles still must be legally registered.
In the wake of the Nashville school shooting on March 27, 2023 that killed three children and three adults, Republican Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed an executive order to tighten background check requirements, an act commended by President Biden.
81% of voters nationally support criminal background checks on all sales of firearms, including 92% of Democrats and 70% of Republicans.
While 22 states and Washington, D.C. have closed this loophole by requiring background checks on all handgun sales, Congress has not acted and the majority of states have not closed this loophole.
What is the National Instant Criminal Background Check?
- The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was implemented to prevent firearm sales to individuals with criminal records
- 381 million background checks have been conducted, and 3.5 million denials have been made through the NICS
- 80% of all firearms used for criminal purposes are obtained through transfers from unlicensed dealers (Vittes, 2012)
Source: Everytown Research and Policy
What are the effects of the current loophole in the federal law?
In 2015, 22% of U.S. gun owners who acquired a firearm within the previous 2 years did so without a background check.
Adolescents and guns
Approximately 86% of homicide victims ages 10 to 24 are killed by firearms, 43% of youth suicides involve firearms, and 44% of firearm injury costs are generated by people ages 15 to 24. Teens are less likely to carry a gun if they live in a state requiring universal background checks in addition to federal requirements. Just under 6% of teens carried a gun, and 83% of those were from states without a universal background check law. Neither the NICS nor a state universal background check law alone was enough to significantly impact gun carrying rates, but together they reduced the risk by 25%.
What does data show on the state level?
- Pediatric mortality for firearms was decreased by 35% in states with laws requiring universal background checks for firearm purchases.
- The 2007 repeal of Missouri’s background check requirement was associated with a 25% increase in the gun homicide rate, translating to 55 to 63 more homicides per year.
Closing the loophole by expanding background checks for all gun sales can reduce the number of illegally trafficked guns (74 percent of traced guns that crossed state lines came from states without background check laws), the number of adolescents carrying guns, and overall start to reduce the number of pediatric firearm deaths.
On Call 4 Kids 