Background Check and Licensing Policies for Firearm Purchase: Design, Implementation, and Enforcement Elements by State (1980-2019)

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Alex McCourt, Johns Hopkins University. Bloomberg School of Public Health; Ayush Patel, University of California-Davis. Violence Prevention Research Program; Rose Kagawa, University of California-Davis. Violence Prevention Research Program

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
Data Dictionary text/csv 57.8 KB 07/15/2021 03:59:PM
Data Labels text/csv 2.7 MB 07/15/2021 03:58:PM
Data Numeric text/csv 1.3 MB 07/15/2021 03:58:PM

Project Citation: 

McCourt, Alex, Patel, Ayush, and Kagawa, Rose. Background Check and Licensing Policies for Firearm Purchase: Design, Implementation, and Enforcement Elements by State (1980-2019). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-07-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/E145221V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This database characterizes variation in the design, implementation, and enforcement of comprehensive background check and purchaser licensing (permit-to-purchase) policies across states, from 1980 through 2019. Design, implementation, and enforcement elements were chosen based on their hypothesized ability to influence the effectiveness of comprehensive background check and purchaser licensing policies. Design elements include policy characteristics such as whether the background check is completed at the point of sale or during a permitting process, the ease of completing the permitting process, and whether and which additional firearm prohibitions the state includes (e.g. violent misdemeanor conviction). Implementation elements include the quality and completeness of prohibiting records and the ways in which these data are shared across agencies. Enforcement elements include the presence and severity of penalties for violating these laws and the presence of complementary laws such as anti-straw purchasing policies.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources National Collaborative for Gun Violence Research

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Firearm policy; comprehensive background checks; permit-to-purchase policy; Purchaser licensing; Criminal history records; Criminal history information systems
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage 50 US States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1980 – 2019
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; aggregate data; survey data

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source State statutes, legislation, and regulatory documents were retrieved using standard search terms on legal databases including Westlaw, HeinOnline, Nexis Uni, and state-specific websites. Collected laws were analyzed to determine whether they were relevant to state background check policy and, if they were relevant, were coded. 

We also assembled information from the following sources:
  1. Goggins BR, DeBacco DA. Survey of state criminal history information systems: A criminal justice information policy report. Washington (DC): SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics. (1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012. 2014, 2016, 2018)
  2. FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Section, Active Records in the NICS Indices (2015 - 2018, 2020)
Dr. Alex McCourt (Johns Hopkins University) led the review and collection of the legal data.
Ayush Patel (University of California at Davis) led the review and assembly of information from national surveys and administrative data.

We continue to engage in quality checks and updates and would appreciate feedback if anything appears incorrect. 
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation state-year, with implementation dates (dd/mm/yyy)
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit State

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-07-15]

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