Effectiveness of Gun Control Laws
Gun control laws have had limited success in reducing US gun related
mortality. From 1999 to 2013, the firearm fatality rate in the US has
remained unchanged
[8].
Furthermore, when looking at 25 different gun control laws implemented
by states in the US, nine were found to be beneficial, nine found to be
counterproductive, and seven were inconclusive
[4].
This is not to say that gun control laws have no effect. Although the
overall firearm fatality rate in the US has not changed since 1999, some
individual states have had more success in limited firearm related
deaths. In general, states with more restrictive gun laws have a lower
firearm fatality rate
[8].
Also, it has been shown that if the top three most effective gun control
laws were uniformly applied to everyone in the US, firearm mortality
rates could be reduced from 10.35 per 100,000 down to less than 1 per
100,000. These three gun control laws thought to be most effective are
universal background checks for the purchase of guns, background checks
for the purchase of ammunition, and firearm identification through
ballistic fingerprinting or microstamping
[4].