Table 1. Firearm Control Laws Included in the State Firearm Policy Scale.
| Law | Descriptiona | Scoring |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer regulation15,16 | Laws regulating record keeping, security practices, and licensing for firearms dealers | 1 point: Ban residential dealers, require security measures, or require reporting of sales, losses and thefts to law enforcement 2 points: Require dealer license |
| Background checks for private sales24,25 | Laws requiring background checks for firearms sales made by individuals who are not federally licensed dealers | 1 point: select firearms or only required at gun shows 2 points: required for all private sales |
| License to purchase or own17,22 | Laws that require an individual to obtain a license prior to purchasing or owning a firearm | 1 point: Require license for select firearms only, require safety training or testing, limit duration of license to ≤1 y 2 points: Require license for purchase or possession of all firearms |
| Junk gun regulation18 | Laws that require firearms to meet design and manufacturing standards | 1 point: Allow sale of only a list of approved guns 2 points: Require specific design and safety standards |
| Reporting requirement for lost or stolen guns24 | Laws that require individuals to report the loss or theft of their firearms within a specified period of time | 2 points: Require reporting of lost or stolen firearms |
| Multiple purchases31 | Laws that restrict the number of firearms an individual can purchase within a given timeframe | 2 points: restrict multiple purchases or sales |
a
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (LCPGV) provided detailed data describing firearm laws for every state for 2010. Based on the LCPGV methodology, we rated each state 0 to 2 in each of 6 areas, with stronger policies receiving 2 points and more lenient regulations receiving 1 point. These scores were summed to a cumulative measure, with possible values of 0 to 12.