Regulating Bulk Firearm Purchases

Audience

Strategy

Federal law does not regulate the number of guns a person can buy at once, but states can implement legislation that limits the number of guns someone can purchase in a specific time period. Guns purchases as part of a bulk purchase, that is to say purchased along with many other guns at the same time, account for up to one quarter of all guns recovered at crime scenes. Regulating bulk firearm purchases, then, can significantly reduce firearm trafficking.

Specific programs and implementation sites:

California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia limit individuals to buying one gun per month

Helpful resources and citations:

Bulk Gun Purchases, Giffords Law Center
Crime Gun Risk Factors: Buyer, Seller, Firearm, and Transaction Characteristics Associated with Gun Trafficking and Criminal Gun Use, National Institute of Justice

Primary implementing agency:

Legislature

Potential partnering agencies:

No partnership required

Links to evaluation evidence:

Effects of Limiting Handgun Purchases on Interstate Transfer of Firearms, Promising

PSN Pillars

Focused and Strategic Enforcement

Prevention and Intervention

Body-Worn Camera Auto-Triggering Technologies

Law Enforcement

Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative

Comprehensive Gun Violence Reduction Strategies

Consent to Search and Seize Program

Gun Buy-Back or Turn-In Programs

Gun Courts

Gun Dealer Records Maintenance

Gun Licensing

Gun Prosecution Case Screening

Gun Tracing

Law Enforcement

Gun Violence Prevention Hotlines

Gunshot Detection Technology

Homicide and Non-fatal Shooting Databases

Homicide Investigations and Prosecutions Assessment – PSN Resource

Homicide Review Commissions

Hospital-Policing Partnerships

Identifying and Responding to Chronic Offenders

Lost/Stolen Gun Reporting

Mentoring

Individually Focused

National Instant Criminal Background Check System Denials Investigations

Neighborhood Engagement Units

Nonfatal Shooting Assessment – PSN Resource

Law Enforcement

Policing

Parent/Guardian Counseling

Individually Focused

Parent/Guardian Counseling

Individually Focused

Police-Community Liaison

Public Awareness Campaigns

Real-Time Crime Center

Law Enforcement

Promote Safe Storage of Firearms

Problem-Oriented Policing

Search and Seize Policy – Domestic Violence

Street Outreach Workers

Community-based Violence Intervention (CVI)

Survivors Empowered Rapid Response Team

Sustained Investigation of Gun-Involved Cases

Policing

Universal Background Checks

Local Government Agencies

Youth Counseling

School-Based Youth Development Programs

Cure Violence

Community-based Violence Intervention (CVI)

Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Lethality Assessment Instruments

Credible Messenger Program

Community-based Violence Intervention (CVI)

Comprehensive Youth Violence Prevention Programs

Individually Focused

Top Offender List Training – PSN Resource

Law Enforcement

Focused Deterrence

Improve Homicide Investigations

Policing

Respond to Retaliatory Violent Disputes

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Regulating Bulk Firearm Purchases

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