Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH, Maria T. Bulzacchelli, and Daniel W. Webster, ScD, MPH. Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410 955-7982, JVernick@jhsph.edu

Firearm dealers can be an important source of guns for criminals. Just one percent of all gun dealers originally sold more than half of all guns subsequently traced to crime. Prior research has indicated that some dealers are willing to facilitate illegal sales. Persons in the business of selling firearms must obtain a federal dealer's license. But states also have the opportunity to license and provide needed oversight of gun dealers. No prior published research has comprehensively examined state regulation of gun dealers as an opportunity to reduce health risks associated with potentially corrupt dealers. We conducted legal research to identify all relevant state firearm dealer laws and regulations. We grouped the laws into the following categories: 1) licensing; 2) conditions for licensing; 3) record keeping; 4) retention of records; 5) inspections; 6) theft reporting; and 7) store security requirements. Just 17 states license gun dealers as a matter of state law – a missed opportunity for the remaining states. Only two states require periodic inspections of dealers. Thirteen states require store security measures designed to reduce theft, but just six states mandate the prompt reporting of thefts that do occur. We recommend that states: 1) license their gun dealers; 2) impose conditions for licensure including a criminal history background check; 3) mandate record keeping and retention of records; 4) require at least annual inspections of all gun dealers; 5) mandate prompt reporting of theft; and 6) require that gun dealers' inventory be locked to prevent theft.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Describe the ways that firearm dealers are regulated in the United States.
• Analyze various options for regulation of firearm dealers to reduce the public health risks they represent.

Keywords: Firearms, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation