State Firearm Safety Laws Across 50 States, 1991-2019
Updated 7mo ago
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Description
The State Firearm Law Database from the Department of Justice catalogs 134 firearm safety laws across 14 policy categories for a 26-year period from 1991 to 2019. It provides a structured comparison of state-level provisions, including regulations on firearm transfers, ammunition, possession, storage, trafficking, and manufacturer liability.
Use Cases
Analyze temporal trends in the adoption of 134 firearm safety laws across 14 policy categories to identify legislative patterns.
Compare state-level firearm transfer process regulations to assess policy diffusion and regional clustering.
Model the relationship between firearm storage laws and other state policy provisions within the 14-category framework.
Strengths
Covers a 26-year time span from 1991 to 2019, enabling longitudinal policy analysis.
Systematically tracks 134 distinct firearm safety laws, providing a structured basis for comparison.
Includes detailed coding criteria for transparency in handling law exemptions and nuances.
Limitations
The database explicitly states it is not the most detailed record of all state firearm policies, prioritizing comparability over granularity.
Data is limited to state-level laws and does not include local or municipal ordinances.
Provenance
Source
Department of Justice
Collection Method
Methodology categorizes state firearm provisions to capture differences while maintaining comparability; coding criteria are provided for transparency.
Time Range
1991 to 2019
Freshness
Data covers through 2019; last platform update was in 2025.
Geography
50 U.S. states
License is US Public Domain (us-pd). The creators note other resources may provide more detailed understanding of individual provisions.