Gun Control Laws: The Brady Law
Brady Law
The Brady Law, also known as the Gun Violence Prevention Act of 1994, was set up to try and establish a set of national standards to promote the safe use of firearms and to reduce gun violence (GVPA, 1994). Included in this are handgun licensing and registration, a stronger regulation of licensed manufacturers, importers, and dealers, and laws against the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons and other dangerous weapons (GVPA, 1994).
Licensing and Registration of handguns is one of the first issues in the act. For a citizen to purchase a handgun they must first receive a state license. This license provides for the issuance and revocation and the reporting of losses and thefts of handguns and handgun ammunition (GVPA, 1994). The …show more content…
license must be issued by the chief law enforcement officer of the state and must contain information about the person including photo, a license number, age, date of birth, and an address (GVPA 1994). The law also sets up specific guidelines that a
person must meet to be able to receive a handgun license from the state. In order for a person to receive a handgun permit, they must be 21 years old, must not be prohibited from owning a firearm under any law, and must be issued a state handgun safety certificate.
Another set of guidelines that were constructed was for the registering of handguns.
Every handgun purchased must be registered and the registration must include at least two things. 1. Information that identifies the buyer, which includes name, address, date of birth, and state handgun license number. 2. Information that identifies the handgun, which includes make, model, caliber, and serial number (GVPA, 1994). Many gun owners saw this as an attack on their privacy. With these regulations on their ownership, the government could now be able to tell who has guns and exactly what guns the individuals own. But registering handguns can help in returning lost or stolen weapons to the owners and also could help in solving cases by identifying who the owner of the crime weapon …show more content…
is.
Another big piece to the law was the mandatory 5-day waiting period before a person can actually receive a gun
after a purchase.
The waiting period is to be used so that the seller can run a background check on the buyer. The Brady Law requires that the Attorney General set up a permanent national instant criminal background check system so that a dealer can find out if the person is eligible to receive the firearm. With this system, the seller can run a background check fairly quickly with a minimal amount of waiting time.
One of the big weaknesses is that many transfers of firearms are not done through dealers, but through friends, family, and other ways. Non-dealer transactions probably account for the majority of transfers of guns to criminals (Wright and Rossi, 1986). If a criminal wants a gun they are not going to go through a dealer and get a background check, they are going to do whatever it is they have to do to obtain one. One strength of the checks is that less motivated offenders who do not get a weapon through other ways could be deterred by the checks and not go through with the crime.
The real importance of the Brady Law is that it helps to lower crimes committed with guns. Former President Clinton backs the law because he sees it as blocking thousands of convicted felons from acquiring weapons that might have been used to commit new crimes
(Duncan).
A study done by Ludwig and Cook compared rates on homicide and suicide rates from 1985 to 1997. They could not find evidence that the Brady Law had any impact on reducing homicide rates (Ludwig and Cook, 2000). In the study, there was a decline of homicide and suicide rates for people of all ages in the U.S. before the Brady Law was enacted. After the law went into effect there were no differences in homicide rates.
References
Duncan, Mark. (2002). Is the Brady Bill Really Working?
Available: http://www.gunsaregood.com/brady.htm
Gun Violence Protection Act of 1994. Available:
http://www.combatsimulations.com/ar15/bradybill.htm
Ludwig J. and Cook, PJ. Homicide and Suicide Rates
Associated with Implementation of the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act. JAMA. 2000
The Brady Bill
AJ 492
The Brady Law, also known as the Gun Violence Prevention Act of 1994, was set up to try and establish a set of national standards to promote the safe use of firearms and to reduce gun violence (GVPA, 1994). Included in this are handgun licensing and registration, a stronger regulation of licensed manufacturers, importers, and dealers, and laws against the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons and other dangerous weapons (GVPA, 1994).
Licensing and Registration of handguns is one of the first issues in the act. For a citizen to purchase a handgun they must first receive a state license. This license provides for the issuance and revocation and the reporting of losses and thefts of handguns and handgun ammunition (GVPA, 1994). The …show more content…
license must be issued by the chief law enforcement officer of the state and must contain information about the person including photo, a license number, age, date of birth, and an address (GVPA 1994). The law also sets up specific guidelines that a
person must meet to be able to receive a handgun license from the state. In order for a person to receive a handgun permit, they must be 21 years old, must not be prohibited from owning a firearm under any law, and must be issued a state handgun safety certificate.
Another set of guidelines that were constructed was for the registering of handguns.
Every handgun purchased must be registered and the registration must include at least two things. 1. Information that identifies the buyer, which includes name, address, date of birth, and state handgun license number. 2. Information that identifies the handgun, which includes make, model, caliber, and serial number (GVPA, 1994). Many gun owners saw this as an attack on their privacy. With these regulations on their ownership, the government could now be able to tell who has guns and exactly what guns the individuals own. But registering handguns can help in returning lost or stolen weapons to the owners and also could help in solving cases by identifying who the owner of the crime weapon …show more content…
is.
Another big piece to the law was the mandatory 5-day waiting period before a person can actually receive a gun
after a purchase.
The waiting period is to be used so that the seller can run a background check on the buyer. The Brady Law requires that the Attorney General set up a permanent national instant criminal background check system so that a dealer can find out if the person is eligible to receive the firearm. With this system, the seller can run a background check fairly quickly with a minimal amount of waiting time.
One of the big weaknesses is that many transfers of firearms are not done through dealers, but through friends, family, and other ways. Non-dealer transactions probably account for the majority of transfers of guns to criminals (Wright and Rossi, 1986). If a criminal wants a gun they are not going to go through a dealer and get a background check, they are going to do whatever it is they have to do to obtain one. One strength of the checks is that less motivated offenders who do not get a weapon through other ways could be deterred by the checks and not go through with the crime.
The real importance of the Brady Law is that it helps to lower crimes committed with guns. Former President Clinton backs the law because he sees it as blocking thousands of convicted felons from acquiring weapons that might have been used to commit new crimes
(Duncan).
A study done by Ludwig and Cook compared rates on homicide and suicide rates from 1985 to 1997. They could not find evidence that the Brady Law had any impact on reducing homicide rates (Ludwig and Cook, 2000). In the study, there was a decline of homicide and suicide rates for people of all ages in the U.S. before the Brady Law was enacted. After the law went into effect there were no differences in homicide rates.
References
Duncan, Mark. (2002). Is the Brady Bill Really Working?
Available: http://www.gunsaregood.com/brady.htm
Gun Violence Protection Act of 1994. Available:
http://www.combatsimulations.com/ar15/bradybill.htm
Ludwig J. and Cook, PJ. Homicide and Suicide Rates
Associated with Implementation of the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act. JAMA. 2000
The Brady Bill
AJ 492