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State laws that require gun purchasers to obtain a license contingent on passing a background check performed by state or local law enforcement are associated with a 14 percent reduction in firearm homicides in large, urban counties.
Studies have shown that these laws, which are sometimes called permit-to-purchase licensing laws, are associated with fewer firearm homicides at the state level. This is the first study to measure the impact of licensing laws on firearm homicides in large, urban counties, where close to two-thirds of all gun deaths in the U.S. occur.
The study was published online May 22 in the Journal of Urban Health and was written by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis.
Handgun licensing laws typically require prospective gun purchasers to apply directly to a state or local law enforcement agency to obtain a purchase permit, which is dependent on passing a background check, prior to approaching a seller. Many state licensing laws also require applicants to submit fingerprints.
The study also found that states that only required so-called comprehensive background checks (CBCs) -- that is, did not include other licensing requirements -- were associated with a 16 percent increase in firearm homicides in the large, urban counties. In states that only require a CBC the gun seller or dealer, not law enforcement, typically carries out the background check.
"Background checks are intended to screen out prohibited individuals, and serve as the foundation upon which other gun laws are built, but they may not be sufficient on their own to decrease gun homicides," said Cassandra Crifasi, PhD, MPH, assistant professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research and the paper's lead author. "This study extends what we know about the beneficial effects of a licensing system on gun homicides to large, urban counties across the United States."
In addition to sending potential purchasers to law enforcement and requiring fingerprints, state licensing laws provide a longer period for law enforcement to conduct background checks. These checks may have access to more records, increasing the likelihood that law enforcement can identify and screen out those with a prohibiting condition. Surveys from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research find that the majority of both gun owners and non-gun owners support this policy.
[...] For the study, a sample of 136 of the largest, urban counties in the U.S. was created for 1984-2015 and analyses were conducted to assess the effects of changes to the policies over time.
The study also examined the impact of right-to-carry (RTC) and stand- your-ground (SYG) laws. SYG laws give individuals expanded protections for use of lethal force in response to a perceived threat, and RTC laws make it easier for people to carry loaded, concealed firearms in public spaces.
The researchers found that counties in states that adopted SYG laws experienced a seven percent increase in firearm homicide, and counties in states with RTC laws experienced a four percent increase firearm homicide after the state's adoption of the RTC law.
"Our research finds that state laws that encourage more public gun carrying with fewer restrictions on who can carry experience more gun homicides in the state's large, urban counties than would have been expected had the law not been implemented," said Crifasi. "Similarly, stand-your-ground laws appear to make otherwise non-lethal encounters deadly if people who are carrying loaded weapons feel emboldened to use their weapons versus de-escalating a volatile situation."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Fluffeh on Wednesday June 06 2018, @04:01AM (14 children)
The middle east is FULL of guns. Given the logic of "more guns is safer" one would think that it is one of the the safest places about then no?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday June 06 2018, @05:02AM (12 children)
We don't have a "death to the infidels" ideology over here, so of course they're more violent. We also don't approve of fucking goats but I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Touché) by pe1rxq on Wednesday June 06 2018, @09:30AM (6 children)
You do seem to have quite a few people with a 'death to everyone in my school' ideology.......
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 06 2018, @09:40AM
"In-", negative prefix, ="not". "Fidel", from the Lat. fidelis, "faithful, honest". So what lying sack of camel-dung is claiming we do not have infidels? Persons not to be trusted? Even if they get elected precedent, or snag a contractors' gig in the NSC? Huh?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday June 06 2018, @01:47PM
Actually no, the numbers do not support.
Purely WRT political propaganda from the biased media IS a correct observation, 5 dead in the USA every month will yield 20 hours of news propaganda each time, vs 10 daily in the middle east is VERY carefully not mentioned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 06 2018, @05:26PM
actually it's a very small number. one pharma'd shooter every once in a while out of 300+ million people? tiny.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 07 2018, @03:27AM (2 children)
Yes, that's caused by raising them to depend on others to resolve their differences instead of engaging in a bit of fisticuffs and that being the end of it. If they can't do anything but sit there and swallow all their anger, of course it's going to build up until they snap. Pacifists caused these shootings.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by pe1rxq on Thursday June 07 2018, @01:36PM (1 child)
Being a pacifist does not mean that you do not solve your problems.
It just means that you don't solve them with violence.
Pacifism is just the opposite of shooting your fellow students.
The students apparently didn't learn how to solve their problems in a pacifist way, and (American) society as a whole failed by creating an environment where so many see non-pacifism as the only option left to them.
It is often old fashioned herd mentality that leads to both. (either feeling cast-out, or the actual casting out of by the other members of a herd)
On a personal note: Do you really think differences must be solved by physical means (fisticuffs or shooting)? If so why did you even bother writing your reply to me? You knew our differences would not be solved until either of us is bleeding.....
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday June 09 2018, @11:18AM
I think schoolyard scraps can and did resolve most adolescent disputes without any harm to speak of for a very long time. Then came the pacifists teaching their children that violence is never an alternative. Unfortunately passive dispute resolution is not as versatile as violence. It absolutely can not resolve any dispute that the other party is not interested in resolving. The child trying to remain passive has no choice whatsoever except to sit there and swallow the abuse forever if the abuser doesn't give a fuck what they have to say. Violence is quite capable of resolving such situations though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 06 2018, @03:21PM (1 child)
http://www.wwl.com/articles/louisiana-law-ban-sex-animals-wins-senate-vote-25-10 [wwl.com]
Louisiana law to ban sex with animals wins Senate vote 25 - 10
Note that 10 senators voted AGAINST.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 07 2018, @03:28AM
Are you saying politicians aren't goat fucking bastards? The 25 in favor were just embarrassed goat fuckers.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 06 2018, @03:35PM
We have football, though.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 06 2018, @11:40PM (1 child)
Sure we do. It's just a different set of people who are considered "infidels": If you ask around the US, it's not hard to find people who think the world would be a better place if every Muslim on the planet were killed, immediately. Indeed, you, The Mighty Buzzard, often seem to be leaning towards that viewpoint with your blatantly prejudiced description of Muslims.
Of course, Muslims aren't the only folks sometimes targeted by Americans who think genocide is fine and dandy: Illegal immigrants, black people, white people, Jews, GLBT folks, Trump supporters, etc. Once you get to the point where killing the people you don't like en masse becomes acceptable, the story ends only when everybody is dead.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday June 07 2018, @03:30AM
If you really think that, you're a fucking idiot and we can't have a rational conversation. I'll simply say that without major reform, Islam is simply, fundamentally incompatible with western civilization.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday June 06 2018, @04:50PM
The US has more guns per person than any country in the Middle East. There is less gun violence in the USA than in the Middle East. So more guns IS safer.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."