Summary
Background checks are common sense, constitutional, and save lives—and they have overwhelming support from the American public, including among Republicans and gun owners. 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.
While federal law requires background checks for all gun sales by licensed gun dealers, it does not require background checks for guns sold by unlicensed sellers, including online, at gun shows, and to strangers. This loophole enables people with felony convictions, domestic abuse restraining orders, and other people with prohibiting histories to buy guns with no questions asked. Our background check laws should be updated and these loopholes should be closed.
Background Check and/or Purchase Permit
22 states have adopted this policy
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
How it works
Background checks keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Current federal law does not require background checks on sales between unlicensed parties. This means that people with dangerous histories can easily circumvent the background check system simply by purchasing their firearm online or at a gun show.
An Everytown investigation showed that as many as 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. And the unlicensed sale marketplace is large: the same investigation found that each year, there are 1.2 million ads offering firearms for sale that would not legally require a background check to be completed.
Background checks are 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, lower firearm suicide rates, and lower firearm trafficking. When Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks—both for a handgun purchase permit and at the point of sale—its firearm homicide rate decreased by 40 percent and its firearm suicide rate decreased by 15 percent.
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.
93%
93 percent of American voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales, including 89 percent of Republicans and 89 percent of gun owners.
1/9
Nearly 1 in 9 people looking to buy a firearm on Armslist.com are people who would fail a background check.
1.2M
Each year, 1.2 million online ads offering firearms for sale are listed that would not legally require a background check to be completed.
78k
There are nearly 78,000 licensed gun dealers in the US, more than the number of McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Wendy’s locations combined.
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Inside the Gun Shop: Firearms Dealers and their Impact,” July 6, 2023.
Myth & Fact
Myth
Closing these loopholes in our background check laws 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 will then run a background check in exactly the same way as for sales directly from the dealer’s store. There are tens of thousands of active gun dealers across the county—more than all McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Wendy’s locations combined—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.
Who supports background checks?
More than four in five voters in every state in the country agree that no gun sale should take place without a completed background check. (Hover map to see data by state.)
Last updated: 3.29.2021
Learn more
Reports & Fact Sheets
Other Resources
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Five Things to Know About Crime Guns, Gun Trafficking, and Background Checks
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Bipartisan Mayors Call for Background Checks
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Requiring Background Checks for All Gun Sales: Critical for Public Safety and Clearly Constitutional
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Background Checks and Alaska
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Background Checks and Florida
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Background Checks and Indiana
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Background Checks and Maine
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Background Checks and Missouri
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Background Checks and North Carolina
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Background Checks and Ohio
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Background Checks and Oklahoma
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Background Checks and Pennsylvania
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Background Checks and South Carolina
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Background Checks and Texas
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Background Checks and Utah
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Background Checks and West Virginia
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Background Checks and Wisconsin
