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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: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 06 2018, @03:10PM (8 children)
We hold these truths to be self evident . . . .
Self evident facts are not granted by a government.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Informative) by ewk on Wednesday June 06 2018, @05:03PM (7 children)
"We"
Seems to me this 'we' is referring to the de facto government/leaders of that time.
It's not like YOU conjured up these ideas about truth and them being self evident. (Left aside the discussion whether they really are both)
However, that government (and by succession your current one) did/does manage your rights (either by limiting those rights directly or by indicating the limits the government can impose on those rights).
Seems to be your rights do come from your government after all, whether you like it or not.
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 2) by physicsmajor on Wednesday June 06 2018, @06:06PM (6 children)
I'm hoping you aren't just trolling. I'll bite.
The right to self defense is in fact a natural right. If you are assaulted, do you have to ask the .gov if you can defend yourself or, in the moment, do you just do so? That's what people mean by natural rights.
Now, as we see in the EU/Britain, the government can make legislation purportedly to limit such natural rights. But all such legislation only applies after the fact, and is completely ineffective in the moment when your attacker decided to ignore even more laws by attacking.
Similarly for free speech. All humans can say anything they want, at any time. Social constructs and common sense rein most of us in. But any North Korean could absolutely start shouting for Kim's ousting right now. That's a natural right. Their government wouldn't take kindly to this, and they may not be able to express their opinion long before getting arrested or shot, but they have the ability.
Natural rights do not arise from governments, full stop. In the above examples, governments feebly attempt to limit them, often with little functional success. I hope this is enlightening for you.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ewk on Wednesday June 06 2018, @09:00PM (5 children)
Not trolling here, just a total incomprehensibility of the weapon/gun-nuttery (and all the crap that comes along with it) that some people seem to be infected with.
You really should try this thing called civilisation... it works so much better than living by instinct or in an irrational fear that something might happen.
Then you will notice that the reasons to attack are few and far between. And so will be the actual attacks happening.
Or you could opt for something like the Somalian-solution, where no government feebly attempts to limit your so called natural rights.
Your choice... I know what is mine.
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 07 2018, @12:22AM (4 children)
And yet - London's murder rate is on the rise.
Funny, those people who lecture us on civilization, are in the process of abandoning said civilization. They have invited the barbarians in, and civilization just washes away.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by ewk on Thursday June 07 2018, @07:58AM (1 child)
Nice whataboutism there. London is not the issue here.
"Handgun Purchaser Licensing Laws Linked to Fewer Firearm Homicides in Large, Urban Areas" is.
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 2, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 07 2018, @02:14PM
As stated repeatedly throughout this discussion, the title, TFS, and TFA are nothing but shit. The lefties have learned, "If you repeat a lie often enough, it eventually becomes truth." Some anti-gun nuts funded a study to support their position, so some "academic" took their money, and gave them what they wanted.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @01:03AM (1 child)
This is why I said, at the Close of the Civil War, that we should have just let Arkansas go. But the Union "invited" them back in. And so we have the uncivilized Runaway washing over us. American carnage and ignorance!
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday June 09 2018, @10:42AM
Arkansas? He gets welcomed to IRC by cmn32480's bot with Dallas weather every time he joins.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.