Table 3.5 shows state laws and constitutional provisions relating to the purchase, ownership, and use of firearms as of July 1, 2001. Laws differ dramatically from state to state and just as sharply from county to county and town to town. In fact, state laws might have little bearing on local gun regulations. For example, the laws of New York State, by themselves, do not tell the whole story of the firearms restrictions placed on someone living in New York City, which has additional restrictions on the use and possession of guns. Most states have laws prohibiting the possession of explosive weapons, machine guns, and short-barrel firearms. Some states, such as Texas and Vermont, have outlawed the use of silencers.
All states had a waiting period for handgun purchases in the first five years after passage of the 1993 interim Brady Law—they either complied with the federal waiting period of five business days or had alternative requirements. Now, all states except Hawaii have instant background checks. (Hawaii has a waiting period of up to fifteen days.) (See Table 3.5.) In 2001 a majority of Americans (73%) supported both a background check and a five-day waiting period, according to Tom W. Smith (2001 National Gun Policy Survey of the National Opinion Research Center: Research Findings, Chicago: National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, 2001).
Note on Table 3.5 that seventeen states plus the District of Columbia require permits or licenses to purchase handguns, and five states and the District of Columbia require permits for long guns. Some permits/licenses are required only in certain cities (not statewide); some of the long gun permits apply only to semiautomatic weapons.
Registration, not required by federal law, is a record of the transfer or ownership of a specific firearm. Only three states (Hawaii, Michigan, New York) and the District of Columbia actually require registration for handguns, and only Hawaii and the District of Columbia require registration for long guns, but some cities or towns require registration of handguns or long guns. (See Table 3.5.)
Banning Firearms
Table 3.5 shows that in 2001, eleven states and the District of Columbia had laws prohibiting certain weapons. In some of these states, only some local jurisdictions prohibit those firearms. The state of California banned some assault weapons in 1989. At the time, the question of assault guns was under debate by the California state legislature, because drug gangs were using them. But the 1989 murders of five schoolchildren in Stockton, California, by a killer armed with an assault rifle added to the public concern and pressured the legislature into passing the ban. Other states adopted similar bans. In 1999 California passed new legislation that toughened its assault weapons ban and limited gun buyers to no more than one handgun per month. California's ban was challenged in court. In December 2002 the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the California assault gun ban and further stated: "The historical record makes it … plain that the [Second] amendment was not adopted in order to afford rights to individuals with respect to private gun ownership or possession." This interpretation of the Second Amendment is vigorously opposed by gun rights advocates. On September 14, 2004, California became the first state to ban the sale of armor-piercing .50 caliber sniper rifles.
Residents of the District of Columbia have been banned since 1977 from acquiring any additional handguns. However, existing handguns registered prior to the ban could be re-registered. The District of Columbia also banned semiautomatic firearms with magazines capable of holding more than twelve rounds. However, in 2004 House Republicans proposed legislation to repeal virtually all of the District of Columbia's gun control laws. In 1988 the Maryland General Assembly passed a law banning the manufacture and sale of cheap, low-caliber handguns (called "Saturday Night Specials"); in 1994 "assault pistols" were outlawed. In 1992 Hawaii banned assault pistols and pistol ammunition magazines holding more than ten rounds. In 2002 New Jersey became the first state to pass legislation banning the sale of handguns not equipped with a mechanism that prevents anyone other than the owner from firing it. Even though the technology to personalize firearms in this way was not yet available, the measure will apply to new guns sold in New Jersey once the technology is available.
As of 2004, forty-two states had legislation directly or indirectly affecting possession of guns in and around schools. Some of the states enacted their legislation after the Supreme Court struck down the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (the act was slightly modified and reinstated), but other states already had such laws on their books. Forty-one states specifically ban possession of firearms on school grounds.
Concealed Weapons
All states and the District of Columbia have some type of concealed-carry laws. (See Table 3.5.) In 2001, thirty-two states had a "shall-issue" permit system, which makes it easy for almost anyone to carry a hidden gun. Twelve states had a discretionary "may-issue" system, which allows law enforcement officials or the licensing authority to approve or deny an application for a concealed-carry permit based on the applicant's record. In some states, the owners must demonstrate need for a concealed weapon (as a security guard would, for example). In seven states, concealed carrying is prohibited. Some states issue non-resident permits and many (but not all) states recognize permits from other states. Vermont is the only state that allows its citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.
Beginning in the 1990s several states passed laws making it easier for citizens to obtain permits to carry concealed handguns. Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Utah passed such laws in 1995; New Mexico and Michigan followed suit in 2001. Similar measures failed in Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Utah, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Kentucky. Some concealed-carry states ban the carrying of firearms into schools, bars, government buildings, or sporting events and allow businesses to post "No Guns" signs if desired. Texas requires its citizens to take training courses as a prerequisite for acquiring a permit-to-carry license.
Table 3.6 shows state policies regarding concealed weapons permits relative to the Brady background check. In Alaska, for example, concealed weapons permits qualify as alternatives to the background check requirements of the Brady law. The concealed weapons permit must be valid under state law in order to qualify as an alternative to a Brady check. Regardless of any dates shown on the chart, concealed weapons permits qualify as alternatives to the background check for no more than five years from the date of issuance. Therefore, even though the District of Columbia, for example, has a policy that firearms purchase certificates issued prior to November 30, 1998, qualify as alternatives to the background check, this does not mean that very old certificates would indefinitely exempt a person from a background check.
Carrying Firearms Openly
Although few people exercise the option to openly carry firearms, twenty-five states and the District of Columbia had laws prohibiting this action as of 2001. (See Table 3.6.) In addition, local ordinances prohibited open carrying in parts of Kansas, Ohio, and Virginia. Arkansas bans carrying a firearm "with a purpose to employ it as a weapon against a person." Tennessee forbids carrying "with the intent to go armed," and Vermont outlaws the carrying of a firearm "with the intent or purpose of injuring another." California prohibits carrying loaded firearms.
Minors
In the 1990s, Americans became concerned with what the U.S. surgeon general called an "epidemic" of youth violence, which described the sharply rising arrest rates of young people for violent crimes between 1983 and 1993–94. Juvenile homicides increased 65% between 1987 and 1993. The number of older juveniles killed with firearms accounted for nearly all of the growth.
Though arrest rates later declined, some states passed tougher laws prohibiting juveniles from possessing firearms and/or punishing those who provide them with guns. By the end of 1994, eighteen states restricted possession of handguns by persons under age eighteen, and fourteen states prohibited the possession of all firearms by persons under age eighteen with various exceptions (participation in firearm safety courses, for example). These state laws are in addition to the federal law that prohibits Federal Firearms Licensees from selling or delivering handguns to persons under the age of twenty-one [18 U.S.C. 922(b)(l)], and the federal law that prohibits persons under the age of eighteen from possessing handguns [18 U.S.C. Sect. 922(x)].
Federal law allows the sale of handguns to people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one at gun shows, unless specifically prohibited by state law. As of January 2005, twelve states and the District of Columbia had such laws prohibiting anyone from selling to a person under age twenty-one, and six other states regulated in some way the private sale of handguns to eighteen- to twenty-one-yearolds. In the remaining thirty-two states, private handgun sales can be made without a background check to persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, "Juvenile Possession Laws by State," http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/issues/?page=juvposs [accessed January 25, 2005]).
A federal computer system to track illegal sales of guns to minors in certain large cities was established in July 1996 by President Bill Clinton. The move was part of an effort to help police limit the supply of illegal firearms and to stop the rise in gun violence among young people. The data from that system have been published since 1997 in Crime Gun Trace Reports by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. In Boston, one of the participating cities, police found that all the handguns bought by gang members in one neighborhood came from Mississippi. They caught and convicted a student from Mississippi State University who was bringing the guns to Boston to sell on weekends. Boston's comprehensive plan to prevent violence was so successful that not a single young person was killed by a firearm in more than two years.
Ballistic Fingerprinting
Ballistic fingerprinting is another hot issue in the gun control debate. The "fingerprint" is a fired bullet and empty cartridge casing from a particular gun, which is sent to a government agency before the gun can be sold. Police can compare this previously fired bullet or cartridge casing with one fired more recently in order to identify the specific weapon used in a crime. Maryland, New Jersey, and New York require ballistic fingerprinting. Calls for a national system arose after sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002. Opponents argue that implementing ballistic fingerprinting is expensive. Furthermore, they say, weapons can be altered easily, making the system ineffective. They also complain that such a system is tantamount to a national gun registry, an invasion of the privacy of law-abiding citizens. To supporters, ballistic fingerprinting is an effective tool to enforce the law.
Other Issues
Gun control issues are debated in each session of Congress and by state legislatures nationwide. One idea that recurs at the federal and state level is a proposal to limit handgun sales to one per person per month (also called anti-gunrunning). According to the proposal's supporters, traffickers would be forced to stop flooding strictly controlled states with large numbers of handguns purchased in states
TABLE 3.6
| Permanent Brady Permit Chart, 2003 | |
| State/territory | Qualifying permits |
| Alabama | None |
| Alaska | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| American Samoa | None |
| Arizona | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| Arkansas | Concealed weapons permits issued on or after April 1, 1999 qualify.* |
| California | None |
| Colorado | None |
| Connecticut | None |
| Delaware | None* |
| District of Columbia | None* |
| Florida | None* |
| Georgia | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| Guam | None* |
| Hawaii | Permits to acquire and licenses to carry qualify. |
| Idaho | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| Illinois | None that qualify as alternatives to a background check under state law. |
| Indiana | None |
| Iowa | Permits to acquire a handgun and concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| Kansas | None |
| Kentucky | None* |
| Louisiana | None* |
| Maine | None* |
| Maryland | None* |
| Massachusetts | None* |
| Michigan | Permits to purchase a handgun qualify. (Note: concealed weapons permits do not qualify) |
| Minnesota | None* |
| Mississippi | Concealed weapons permits issued to individuals under Miss. Stat. Ann. § 45-9-101 qualify. (Note: security guard permits issued under Miss. Stat. Ann. § 97-37-7 do not qualify). |
| Missouri | None* |
| Montana | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| Nebraska | Handgun purchase certificates qualify. |
| Nevada | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| New Hampshire | None |
| New Jersey | None |
| New Mexico | None |
| New York | Licenses to carry and possess handguns qualify. |
| North Carolina | Permits to purchase a handgun and concealed handgun permits qualify. |
| North Dakota | Concealed weapons permits issued on or after December 1, 1999 qualify.* |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Weapons Identification Cards issued on or after November 30, 1998 qualify. |
| Ohio | None |
| Oklahoma | None* |
| Oregon | None* |
| Pennsylvania | None |
| Puerto Rico | None |
| Rhode Island | None |
| South Carolina | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| South Dakota | None* |
| Tennessee | None |
| Texas | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | All permits qualify. |
| Utah | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
with less-restrictive gun laws. Virginia passed such a law in 1993. The previous year, registered gun dealers in Virginia had reported 3,525 sales of two or more handguns to the same person within five days. The state gained a national reputation as a "source state" for guns used in crimes in north eastern cities. Maryland passed a "one-gun-a-month" law in 1996. The Federation of American Scientists Arms Sales Monitoring Project reported, "Limiting gun purchases to one every thirty days has successfully cut down interstate gun smuggling from Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina;
| *While certain permits issued in these states prior to November 30, 1998 were "grandfathered" as Brady alternatives, none of these grandfathered permits would still be valid under state law as of November 30, 2003. | |
| Note: Notwithstanding the dates set forth above, permits qualify as alternatives to the background check requirements of the Brady law for no more than 5 years from the date of issuance. The permit must be valid under state law in order to qualify as a Brady alternative. | |
| SOURCE: "Permanent Brady Permit Chart", in Brady Law, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Office of Firearms, Explosives and Arson (FEA), November 30, 2003, http://www.atf.gov/firearms/bradylaw/permit_chart.htm (accessed October 8, 2004) | |
| Vermont | None |
| Virginia | None |
| Washington | None* |
| West Virginia | None |
| Wisconsin | None |
| Wyoming | Concealed weapons permits qualify. |
gun sales in Maryland dropped 25% in the year after the law was enacted" (Arms Sales Monitor, November 1998, http://www.fas.org/asmp/library/asm/asm38.html [accessed January 25, 2005]).
In order to identify the traffickers who buy guns in one state to sell in another, Connecticut and Maryland require traces on all guns seized by police in connection with a crime. In 1999 Connecticut became the first state to allow police and the courts to remove guns from people who present a danger to the community. As of 2004, Illinois requires that all guns found in the possession of individuals under age twenty-one must be traced.
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