Trends for Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 1999–2018: The First 20 Years of the Permanent Brady Act Period

• NCJ Number: 309283
• Author(s): Brittni Lambing, Ron Frandsen, Jennifer Karberg, and Joseph Durso, Regional Justice Information Service (REJIS)
• Date Published: September 2024
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Third-Party Report
• Award: Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST) Program, 2018-2021

Description

The Bureau of Justice Statistics began the Firearm Inquiry Statistics program in 1995 to provide national estimates of the total number of firearm applications received and denied pursuant to the Brady Act and similar state laws. This report summarizes the number of applications for firearm transfers and permits, denials that resulted from background checks, rates of denial, reasons for denial, and other statistics from the first 20 years of the permanent Brady Act period, from 1999 through 2018. Changes in federal and state laws related to firearm transfers are also summarized for the period.