- Background checks and permits for ALL gun sales were passed by the Minnesota legislature and signed into law by Governor Walz.
- Comprehensive background checks will prevent prohibited buyers from purchasing a gun. Now law, this legislation would close the loophole that allowed those who couldn’t legally purchase a gun from doing so anyway from a private dealer.
- 92% of Minnesotans support background checks on firearm purchases.
- 80% of gun owners strongly support them.
- 2,270 gun sales were denied in Minnesota in 2021 under the previous system that doesn’t require background checks.
- Now law, Minnesota will require people who buy guns in private sales to undergo background checks or present transfer permits.
- Studies show that permit-to-purchase requirements in addition to background checks are associated with a reduction in gun violence.
- Studies have shown that, in Connecticut, a state that has a permit-to-purchase law, firearm homicides have decreased by 40% and suicide rates have decreased by 15% because of these laws.
- A combination of these two laws helps monitor and keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t be in possession of them.
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Sources
*2020-2021 NICS Operations Report. (2020). Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics-2020-2021-operations- report.pdf/view (2,270 denials in 2021)
**Rudolph, K. E., Stuart, E. A., Vernick, J. S., Webster, D. W. (2015). Association Between Connecticut’s Permit-to-Purchase Handgun Law and Homicides. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.30270320
Crifasi, C. K., Meyers, J. S., Vernick, J. S., & Webster, D. W. (2015). Effects of changes in permit-to-purchase handgun laws in Connecticut and Missouri on suicide rates. Preventive Medicine, 79, 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.07.013
