Title: Traffic Stop: How the Brady Act Disrupts Interstate Gun Trafficking

Publication Date: September 1997

What does it say?

This study asks the question, “Did the Brady law have an impact on interstate gun trafficking patterns?”

The Brady law required federally firearm licensees (FFLs) to conduct background checks on gun purchasers. Prior to Brady, some states required background checks at FFLs while others did not, creating incentives for gun trafficking from states with no background checks (32 “weak” law states) to states that required background checks (28 “strong” law states). 

Using crime gun trace data, this researcher looked to see if the weak law states provided a smaller percentage of guns to strong law states after the federal law took effect in their state.

The analysis shows that after implementation of the Brady law, the percentage of crime guns contributed by weak gun law states to strong gun law states was substantially reduced. 

For example, Ohio’s share of guns ending up in crime in New York was reduced by 79 percent after the Brady law took effect. Ohio didn’t require a background check prior to the Brady law.  After Ohio dealers started being required to do a background check, all of a sudden, Ohio’s share of New York crime guns dropped precipitously. 

The same change was found for other states to which Ohio contributed crime guns. This suggests that criminals trafficking guns to New York from Ohio suddenly lost an easy way to supply their need for guns. The results were consistent with other pairs of “weak state/strong states.”

How can I use it?

This study shows that the Brady law likely contributed to meaningful changes in gun trafficking patterns. It also shows that gun laws requiring accountability for legal gun sellers (not even all of them- the Brady law covers an estimated 60 percent of the market) can change trafficking patterns in the illegal market for guns. This provides clear logic that we should extend Brady criminal background checks to the other 40 percent of gun sales, including those at gun shows, to make it even harder for dangerous people to get guns.

Citation

Weil, Douglas. “Traffic Stop: How the Brady Act Disrupts Interstate Gun Trafficking.” Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 1997.

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