A study published in the journal The Lancet on March 10 says that passing three federal laws could reduce the number of U.S. gun deaths by more than 90 percent. The study, from Boston University, says that restrictive gun laws including universal background checks for firearm purchases, background checks for ammunition purchases and firearm identification, which makes if possible to determine the gun that fired a bullet, would substantially “reduce firearm mortality.”
Assistant professor of medicine at Boston University and lead author of the study Bindu Kalesan and her team arrived at the 90 percent figure by looking at the number of gun related deaths in all states in 2010, and then looking at the types of firearm laws that existed in each of those states in 2009. This included both restrictive laws, such as background checks, and permissive laws, such as the stand-your-ground regulations. They also considered differences in rates of gun ownership, homicides that did not involve guns and unemployment.
The researchers found that nine out of 25 existing state laws were actually associated with higher rates of firearm-related deaths, and that another seven had no impact one way or another. Some of the laws that appear to go along with higher deaths were surprising, including bans on assault weapons, which were associated with a 15 percent increase in mortality.
State laws which most often resulted in a reduction in deaths were those requiring universal background checks, associated with a 39 percent reduction in the number of deaths, and ammunition background checks, associated with an 18 percent reduction in deaths. Noted as resulting in a 16 percent reduction in deaths was laws around firearm identification.
When applying their findings nationwide, the Kalesan’s team were able to project that firearm identification would reduce the rate of deaths by 83 percent, background checks for ammunition purposes by 81 percent, and background checks for gun purchases by 57 percent.
The Brady law is a current federal policy requiring background checks when purchasing from a licensed dealer, but it leaves a large loophole, as up to 40 percent of guns are purchased through unlicensed sellers, such as online and at gun shows. Some states have universal background check laws that pertain to all sellers, but even these laws have weaknesses. Some purchasers simply drive to another state to buy a weapon.
The study did not account for differences in poverty rates, culture, race or access to mental health care. In addition, it compared the number of deaths between all states, which could have wide variation. However, Kalesan says “this study is the first big step to figure out which of all the gun laws seem to be effective.”