Title: Trace the Guns: The Link Between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking

Publication Date: September 2010

What does it say?

The essential message of this study is that common sense gun laws work to reduce criminal access to guns.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns looked at the movement of guns across state lines and found states with strong gun laws were less likely to export crime guns to other states and less likely to show indicators of gun trafficking. 

The study looked at ten specific gun control laws.   For each law, rates of crime gun exports and indicators of gun trafficking were higher for states with weak gun laws.

States failing to require a background check for all handgun sales at gun shows exported crime guns at a rate more than 2.5 times higher than states that require the checks.

The findings are consistent with academic and government research showing that strong gun laws make it harder for criminals and other dangerous people to gain access to guns (see, for example, two academic studies: Injury Prevention, 2001 and Journal of Urban Health, 2009).

The report is supplemented by a website.

How can I use it?

Use the results of this study to advocate for strong, common sense gun laws. We need to enact a federal law requiring a background check for all gun sales, including those at gun shows.

Citation

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Trace the Guns: The Link Between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking, New York, NY, September 2010