Background Checks on All Gun Sales
What does it solve?
Background checks are the foundation of any comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy. Current federal law requires that background checks be conducted whenever a person attempts to buy a gun from a licensed gun dealer. This is to ensure that the buyer is not legally prohibited from having the gun. Since federal law began requiring these background checks in 1994, background checks have blocked millions of sales to people with felony convictions or other prohibiting histories.1United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Publications & Products: Background Checks for Firearm Transfers,” https://bit.ly/2F4vMYw. Data on federal- and state-level denials were obtained from the BJS reports for the years 1999–2010 and 2012–2020. Local-level denials were available and included only for the years 2012, 2014–2018, and 2020 from the BJS reports. Data for the years 2011 and 2021 were obtained by Everytown for Gun Safety from the FBI directly. Though the majority of the transactions and denials reported by the FBI and BJS are associated with a firearm sale or transfer, a small number may be for concealed-carry permits and other reasons not related to a sale or transfer.
Under federal law, background checks are only required for gun sales conducted by licensed dealers. Federal law does not address gun sales by unlicensed sellers (e.g., non-dealers who sell guns online or at gun shows). This loophole makes it easy for people with felony convictions, domestic abuse restraining orders, and/or prohibiting histories of mental illness to buy guns with no questions asked. While federal regulations expanded in 2024 to require more background checks nationwide,1Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,“Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” Federal Register 89, no. 77 (April 19, 2024): 28968–29093, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-19/pdf/2024-07838.pdf; Biden-Harris White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Action to Implement Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Expanding Firearm Background Checks to Fight Gun Crime,” April 11, 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/11/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-action-to-implement-bipartisan-safer-communities-act-expanding-firearm-background-checks-to-fight-gun-crime/. the loophole in the law remains. The loophole should be closed by requiring background checks on all gun sales—not just on the sale of firearms from licensed gun dealers.
Background Checks and/or Purchase Permit
Which states require background checks and/or permits to purchase handguns?
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Alabama has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Alaska has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Arizona has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Arkansas has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
California has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Colorado has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Connecticut has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase and point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Delaware has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase (for handguns) and point-of-sale (for all guns)
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Florida has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Georgia has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Hawaii has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Idaho has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Illinois has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase and point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Indiana has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Iowa has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Kansas has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Kentucky has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Louisiana has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Maine has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns) sold at a gun show or as a result of an advertisement
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Maryland has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase (for handguns) and point-of-sale (for all guns)
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Massachusetts has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Michigan has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Minnesota has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- Handguns and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase or point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Mississippi has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Missouri has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Montana has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Nebraska has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- Handguns only
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Nevada has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
New Hampshire has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
New Jersey has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase and point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
New Mexico has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
New York has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase (for handguns and semiautomatic rifles) and point-of-sale (for all guns)
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
North Carolina has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
North Dakota has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Ohio has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Oklahoma has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Oregon has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Permit to purchase and point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Pennsylvania has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- Handguns only
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Rhode Island has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
South Carolina has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
South Dakota has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Tennessee has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Texas has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Utah has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Vermont has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Virginia has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Washington has adopted this policy
- Does the law cover only handgun purchases, or also rifle and shotgun purchases?
- All firearms (handguns, rifles, and shotguns)
- When is the background check performed?
- Point-of-sale
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
West Virginia has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Wisconsin has not adopted this policy
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
Wyoming has not adopted this policy
Myth & Fact
Myth
Requiring background checks on all gun sales would be burdensome.
Fact
The most common federal background check legislation would simply require that unlicensed sellers meet their buyers at a gun dealer. The gun dealer would then run a background check in exactly the same way as for sales directly from the dealer’s store. In 2022, there were nearly 78,000 active gun dealers across the country,1Everytown Research analysis of ATF, Monthly Federal Firearms Listings, 2022. Total listings were deduplicated based on unique addresses. This total does not include Type 3 license holders, who are not permitted to sell firearms and thus are not engaged in the business of firearm sales. more than all McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Wendy’s locations combined, and twice the number of US post offices2Everytown Research analysis of ATF, Monthly Federal Firearms Listings, 2022, and restaurant data: totals were 13,232 McDonald’s, 7,257 Burger King, 21,781 Subway, and 5,987 Wendy’s locations. There are 31,132 Postal Service-managed retail offices in the US.—so there are many places to get a background check done. Gun owners are already accustomed to this process, because they do it every time they buy a gun from a dealer.
How it works
Background checks keep guns out of the wrong hands.
In 2024, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) finalized a rule requiring more unlicensed gun sellers to get dealer licenses1Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,“Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” Federal Register 89, no. 77 (April 19, 2024): 28968–29093, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-19/pdf/2024-07838.pdf; Biden-Harris White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Action to Implement Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Expanding Firearm Background Checks to Fight Gun Crime,” April 11, 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/11/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-action-to-implement-bipartisan-safer-communities-act-expanding-firearm-background-checks-to-fight-gun-crime/. —meaning more gun buyers will have to pass background checks and fewer guns will end up in the wrong hands. The rule will have an especially large impact on firearm sales at gun shows and online. However, federal law continues to allow many sellers to proceed without getting licensed and running background checks, leaving open a loophole through which prohibited people are able to purchase guns with no questions asked.
A 2015 survey found that nearly a quarter of Americans—22 percent—who acquired a firearm in the two years prior did so without a background check.2Matthew Miller, Lisa Hepburn, and Deborah Azrael, “Firearm Acquisition Without Background Checks: Results of a National Survey,” Annals of Internal Medicine 166, 4 (2017): 233–39, https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-1590. An Everytown investigation showed that nearly 1 in 9 people arranging to buy a firearm on Armslist.com, the nation’s largest online gun marketplace, are people who cannot legally have firearms.
Unlicensed sellers are also contributing to gun trafficking: A 2024 ATF analysis of five years of closed firearm trafficking investigations found that unlicensed sellers who do not conduct background checks are the most common suppliers of illegally trafficked firearms. Unlicensed sellers supplied over half of the trafficked guns in these investigations, amounting to more than 68,000 trafficked guns from 2017 to 2021.3ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume III: Firearms Trafficking Investigations,” April 2024, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-firearms-commerce-and-trafficking-assessment-nfcta-firearms-trafficking.
Requiring background checks on all gun sales is proven to reduce gun violence. State laws requiring background checks for all handgun sales—by point-of-sale check and/or permit—are associated with lower firearm homicide rates,4Michael Siegel and Claire Boine, What Are the Most Effective Policies in Reducing Gun Homicides? Rockefeller Institute of Government, March 2019, https://bit.ly/2YPAz7P. lower firearm suicide rates,5Eric W. Fleegler et al., “Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Fatalities in the United States,” JAMA Internal Medicine 173, no. 9 (2013): 732–40, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.1286. and lower firearm trafficking.6Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, and Maria T. Bulzacchelli, “Effects of State-Level Firearm Seller Accountability Policies on Firearm Trafficking,” Journal of Urban Health 86, no. 4 (July 2009): 525–37, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9351-x; Daniel W. Webster et al., “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013): 109-21, https://bit.ly/3Ic334l.
By the numbers
10%
States with laws requiring background checks for all gun sales—by point-of-sale check and/or permit—were associated with 10 percent lower homicides rates.
>4M
Since 1994, over 4 million sales have been blocked to people with felony convictions or other prohibiting histories.
>90%
More than 90 percent of FBI background checks are completed immediately.
Alexandria Imani Burgos On October 19, 2014, our lives were shattered forever. Our daughter, Alexandria Imani Burgos, who was 18 years old at the time, went to pick up her younger brother, Christian, from a small birthday gathering at a friend’s house. While waiting inside, a stray bullet entered the… Continue