Last updated 29 March 2004

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

OVERVIEW (1)

Population:  290,342,554 (July 2003 est.)

Economy:  

GDP: purchasing power parity - $10.4 trillion (2002 est.)

GDP: per capita purchasing power parity - $37,600 (2002 est.)

Governance:  Constitution-based federal republic; two-party democracy

FIREARMS OWNERSHIP

Percentage of Households with Firearms:  35% (1998 est.) (19)

Estimated Number of Firearms:  Over 200 million (3)

Types of Legal Firearms: As a general rule most models of handguns, shotguns and sporting, hunting and semi-automatic rifles are legal in the United States. Other types of destructive weapons, including assault weapons, firearm accessories (silencers, etc.) and explosives are legal in limited cases. Differences exist between states.  For more information see “Domestic Firearms Legislation”, below.

Purposes of Lawful Firearms Ownership:  Hunting, target-shooting, collection, protection of person or property, private security and self-defence. (2)

FIREARM DEATH, INJURY AND CRIME

The United States has one of the highest rates of firearm injury and death in the developed world. (3) (16) (20) In a study of 36 high- and upper-middle- income countries, the US had the highest overall firearm mortality rate. The firearm mortality rate was approximately 8 times higher than other high-income countries and the firearm homicide rate was approximately 19 times higher than that of the other 35 countries combined. (22) In 2001, there were 29, 573 firearm-related deaths in the US, for an average of around 80 deaths per day. (16)

A 1992 study in the United States estimated the direct and indirect annual costs of gunshot wounds at $126 billion (US). (20) (21) According to 2001 data, firearm deaths account for 1 of every 5 injury deaths. In 2002, there were an estimated 58,841 nonfatal firearm injuries treated in emergency departments in the United States. (16)

Young people are among the most affected by gun violence in the United States. The firearm mortality rate among children 14 years old or younger is nearly 12 times higher than the rates in 25 other developed nations combined. Young men are more at risk than young women; between the ages of 15 and 19, the firearm mortality rate for the former is 8 times higher, and between the ages of 20 and 24, the rate is almost 10 times higher.  Black males between the ages of 20 and 24 years had the highest gun homicide rates of all groups in 2001 (106.5 per 100,000). This rate was more than 10 times higher than that for white males of the same age (10.5 per 100,000). Suicide is also major concern. In 2001, 928 people between the ages of 10 and 19 committed suicide with guns, for an average of more than 2 per day. In the same year, 55% of suicides for all age groups were committed with a firearm. (16)

Of the 5.3 million violent crimes of rape and sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault committed in 2002, approximately 7% involved a firearm. The National Crime Victimization Study (NCVS) found that 353,880 victims of serious violent crimes reported that their offender had a firearm during the attack. This percentage leaps when it comes to lethal violent crimes. The FBI reports that approximately 63% (10,130) of the 15,980 murders in 2001 were committed with firearms. (9) Further, more homicides of women are committed by firearms than are committed by all other types of weapons combined. (20)

Homicides by Weapon Type, 1990 – 2000 (8)

Year	Handgun	Other gun	Knife	Blunt object	Other weapon
1990	11,677	3,395	4,077	1,254	3,037
1991	13,101	3,277	3,909	1,252	3,161
1992	13,158	3,043	3,447	1,088	3,024
1993	13,981	3,094	3,140	1,082	3,233
1994	13,496	2,840	2,960	963	3,071
1995	12,069	2,671	2,735	974	3,162
1996	10,731	2,531	2,692	917	2,778
1997	9,706	2,631	2,363	832	2,678
1998	8,844	2,168	2,257	896	2,805
1999	7,943	2,174	2,042	902	2,461
2000	7,950	2,209	2,090	724	2,545

Firearm-related Deaths in 1998 (10)

Measure	Total	Homicide	Suicide	Unintentional	Undetermined
No.	30,419	11,802	17,432	866	319
Rate	11.3	4.4	6.4	0.3	0.1

TYPES/SOURCES OF FIREARMS WHICH ARE MISUSED

One of the most notable developments in the last decade has been the phenomenon of the “sporterized” post-ban semi-automatic weapon. Firearm manufacturers, in order to circumvent the 1994 ban on weapons like the AK-47 and AR-15 (semi-automatics or “civilian models”) mentioned by name in the legislation, have made minor cosmetic changes to these weapons and have continued to release them to the public legally. (14)  It is worth noting that one such post-ban firearm, a Bushmaster XM-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, was used by the Washington area snipers during their shooting spree in 2003. (24)

Assault weapons represent a significant threat to police officers. Approximately 41 of the 211 law enforcement officers who were killed on duty between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2001 were shot with assault weapons. This means that one in five were killed by an assault weapon. (28) Nevertheless, since 1995 the frequency of the use of assault weapons in crimes has dropped significantly. (7)  Between 1990 and 1994, the assault weapons named in the ban accounted for 4.82% of the guns traced to crimes by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF). Since the implementation of the ban, this has dropped to only 1.61%. Using these figures, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence estimates that if the ban had not been enacted, approximately 60,000 additional assault weapons would have been traced to crimes in the last ten years. (31)

Use of Assault Weapons in Crimes, 1995 - 2002 (7)

YEAR	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
PERCENTAGE	3.57%	2.53%	2.02%	1.80%	1.91%	1.59%	1.30%	1.22%

Source: US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF)

Firearm Theft:  According to survey data, approximately 500,000 guns are stolen each year from private citizens. Between 1998 and 1999, more than 27,000 firearms were reported stolen from licensed gun dealers and more than 3,700 firearms from businesses that transport guns. Theft plays a major role in arming criminals. A national survey of incarcerated individuals asked how they had obtained their most recent firearm. Ten percent indicated they had stolen it and an additional 8% indicated they had bought it from a “fence” – a dealer specializing in stolen goods. A further twenty-one percent reported having purchased their most recent firearm from groups known to steal weapons; for example, drug dealers, addicts, and other street sources. (17)

More than one-fourth of all guns connected with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) investigations of firearms trafficking were reported to have been stolen. (17)

Illegal Trade:  The primary methods by which firearms in civilian possession are diverted to illicit markets in the US include illegal sales and transfers (primary, secondary, via brokers), illegal resale, “straw purchases” and theft. (26) A “straw purchase” is a firearm that has been legally acquired for the purpose of illegal resale. Police records suggest that 100,000 of the guns used in crimes each year are obtained illegally. However, only 197 cases of gun trafficking were prosecuted in 2002. (15)

So-called “Scofflaw” or “dirty” weapons dealers perform only the most minimal checks required by law and sometimes do not perform any checks at all. (15) A 2004 study performed by the Americans for Gun Safety Federation found that about one-fifth of the 373,006 recovered firearms used in crimes between 1996 and 2000 were sold by only 120 dealers. (25) This would indicate that 1% of the legal dealers in arms are responsible for nearly 57% of firearms recovered from crime scenes. (15)

A new law passed by the US Congress in January 2004 has prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) from releasing any information regarding gun sales or dealers. It also requires that background check records be deleted after only 24 hours instead of 90 days. This new requirement will severely curtail the ability of law enforcement agents to investigate problematic sales. A recent report by the General Accounting Office noted that between July 2001 and January 2002, 228 of 235 illegal gun sales took more than one day to detect. However, firearm dealers are still required to maintain their records of sales for 20 years. (25)

There is a great deal of evidence that firearms tend to flow from less regulated to more regulated areas.  A recent study demonstrates clearly that in states where there are strict firearms regulations, the majority of guns recovered in crime originate out of state. Researchers analyzed data on guns recovered from crimes committed in 25 US cities. The percentage of crime guns sold by in-state gun dealers varied by the state’s gun control regime: 84% in cities with no licensing or registration requirements; 72% in cities in states with either licensing or registration but not both; and only 33% where the state required both licensing and registration for handgun purchases. (11) Another study noted that in the years following Virginia’s 1993 law restricting handgun purchases to one per person per month, Virginia was significantly less often the source state for crime guns recovered in other states. (16)

The US is also a major player in the international illegal arms trade. Due in part to an absence of rigorous port area surveillance and lax border controls, large numbers of weapons flow to foreign countries (most notably Mexico and Canada). These arms fuel criminal operations and impede community development. (13)

Anecdotal evidence regarding illicit trafficking includes the following incidents:

• In December of 2003 college students from Ohio were caught funneling weapons illegally to a street gang in New Jersey. The students acted as “straw buyers”. About 200 weapons were purchased, 76 of which were confirmed received and 15 of which were recovered by police from various crime scenes. (30)
• In May 2000, a year-long Canadian-American joint police investigation culminated in the exposure of the largest known cross-border gun-smuggling operation in North America.  Three machine guns, 1,709 M1 Garand rifles and the components for 21,139 more disassembled rifles were seized. The Canadian Firearms Registry was instrumental in bringing about the bust. (29) 

DOMESTIC FIREARM LEGISLATION

The United States regulates firearms at the national and state levels. At the national level, firearms are regulated by the following documents (6) (7):

• The National Firearms Act of 1934
• The Federal Firearms Act of 1938
• The Gun Control Act of 1968
• The Brady Act of 1993
• The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
• The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban of 1996
• The Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986

For state-specific firearm legislation, please visit StateGunLaws.org, a site run by the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence. For an overview of firearm law requirements by state, please see the Open Society Institute, Gun Control in the United States: A Comparative Survey of State Firearm Laws, A project of the Open Society Institute’s Center on Crime, Communities & Culture and the Funders’ Collaborative for Gun Violence Prevention, April 2000.

Licensing Requirements:  There are no Federal requirements for private citizens to obtain a licence or permit. However, certain people are prohibited from lawfully receiving, possessing or transporting firearms, including any person who (5):

• Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year;
• Is a fugitive from justice;
• Is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, any controlled substance;
• Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution;

• Is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States or an alien admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa;
• Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonourable conditions;
• Having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his or her citizenship;
• Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner; or
• Has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

While a person who is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year cannot lawfully receive a firearm, he or she may continue to lawfully possess firearms obtained prior to the indictment. (5)

Registration Requirements: There is no comprehensive federal registration of civilian firearms in place, although some states have established a system for tracking firearms ownership (for example, Massachusetts). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) does maintain a national register of certain weapons designated by the National Firearms Act (NFA). The register contains the names of persons who lawfully import, manufacture, and make such weapons. It also contains the names of persons to whom weapons are lawfully transferred. (2) Some examples of the types of weapons that must be registered are (5):

• Machineguns;  the frames or receivers of machineguns; any combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting weapons into machineguns; any part designed and intended solely and exclusively for converting a weapon into a machinegun;
• Silencers and any part designed and intended for fabricating a silencer;
• Short-barreled rifles and shotguns;
• Destructive devices, such as Molotov cocktails, anti-tank guns (over calibre .50), bazookas and mortars;
• Certain other weapons, such as H&R handguns, Ithaca auto-burglar guns; cane guns and gadget-type firearms and “pen” guns which fire fixed ammunition.

Please note that not all states allow ownership of the above devices. Others allow ownership while severely regulating use. Where ownership is permitted, however, registration is required.

Training Requirements: The requirements for gun licences vary by state.

Storage Requirements:  By state.

Prohibited Firearms: By state. Currently there is a federal ban on assault weapons. Firearms with high-capacity magazines which can hold more than 10 rounds are prohibited from manufacture or sale, as are semi-automatic rifles or pistols that can accept a detachable ammunition magazine and have two additional assault weapon design characteristics, and semiautomatic pistols with two assault weapon design characteristics. (24) (27) The legislation mentions certain firearms by name (27):

·          Norinco, Mitchell and Poly Technologies Automat Kalashnikovs (all models)

·          Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI

·          Galil Berretta Ar70 (SC-70)

·          Colt AR-15

·          Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC

·          SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12 

·          Steyr AUG

·          INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22

·          Revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12

The ban, however, is being circumvented by companies who are producing “sporterized versions” of the prohibited weapons. (See “Types/Sources of Firearms Which Are Misused”, above). The legislation expires on 13 September 2004. (24)

Penalties:  By state. However, some penalties are federal. For example, if a person is caught with an unregistered NFA weapon, he or she may be subject to a fine up to $250,000, or imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both. Further, any vessel, vehicle or aircraft used to transport, conceal or possess an unregistered NFA firearm is subject to seizure and forfeiture, as is the weapon itself. (5) Any person engaged in the business of dealing in the import and export of firearms must be licensed under the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968. An unlicensed person who engages in these activities may subject to licence revocation, fines, and imprisonment for up to 10 years. (18)

MANUFACTURE, IMPORT AND EXPORT

Manufacture: More than 300 U.S. companies produce arms and/or ammunition. (3) Manufacturers of firearms must maintain permanent records of their manufacture.

Firearms Manufactured in the US, 1999 - 2001 (4)

Type	1999	2000	2001
Pistols	995,446	962,901	623,070
Revolvers	335,784	318,960	320,143
Rifles	1,569,685	1,583,042	1,284,554
Shotguns	1,106,995	898,442	679,813
Machine Guns	22,490	47,400	56,367
All Other National Firearms Act (NFA) Weapons	15,277	32,269	25,524
Miscellaneous Firearms	39,837	30,196	21,309
Total:	4,085,514	3,873,210	3,010,780

All licensed manufacturers and importers are required to mark each firearm manufactured or imported with the serial number, make, model, and caliber or gauge of the firearm, as well as the name, city, and state or foreign country of the manufacturer, and if imported, the city and state of the importer. (18)

Import and Export:  The United States is the world's leading legal weapons dealer, with annual sales totaling $12 billion. (23) There are currently 105,048 licensed firearms dealers in the United States. (25) From 1993 to 2000, the US was the leading supplier of conventional arms to the developing world, with sales of $61.5 billion (US). In 1999, the US manufactured over four billion firearms for domestic sale or export. (3)

Importers must maintain records of their transactions for 6 years and exporters for 5 years. With very few exceptions, firearms may only be imported by those licensed by the BATF. All exporters must be registered and each transaction licensed by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). All US manufacturers and exporters of weapons must register with DDTC and submit each transaction for government licensing approval. US Customs authorities conduct end-user and pre-licence checks, including interviews and physical inspections, on commercial transfers of small arms and light weapons (SALW). They also perform similar checks on military-to-military arms transfers. All defence exports are subject to retransfer approval. In the case of commercial sales, the licence must indicate the ultimate end-use country. (18)

US Firearm Exports, 1999 - 2001 (4)

Type	1999	2000	2001
Pistols	34,663	28,636	32,151
Revolvers	48,616	48,130	32,662
Rifles	65,669	49,642	50,685
Shotguns	67,342	35,087	46,174
Machine Guns	22,255	11,719	10,021
All Other National Firearms Act (NFA)  Weapons	2,955	4,114	8,334
Miscellaneous Firearms	4,028	11,132	10,939
Total:	245,528	188,460	190,966

REFERENCES

1. United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), The World Factbook 2003, United States: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/.
2. United Nations (UN), International Study on Firearm Regulation, 1999 update: www.uncjin.org/Statistics/firearms/.
3. International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), “The United States”: www.iansa.org/regions/namerica/namerica.htm#usa.
4. United States (US), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), 2001 Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation Report (AFMER); 2000 AFMER; and 1999 AFMER: www.atf.gov/firearms/stats/index.htm.
5. US, BATF, “Frequently Asked Questions”: www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/.  
6. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, “Federal Legislation”: www.bradycampaign.org/legislation/federal/gunlaws.asp.
7. BATF statistic cited in Dianne Feinstein, “Rate of Banned Assault Weapons Used in Crime Down by Nearly Two-thirds since Passage of 1994 Law”, 5 November 2003: feinstein.senate.gov/03Releases/r-assaultwepsrate1.htm. 
8. US, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), “Homicide Trends in the US”: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/weaponstab.htm.
9. US, BJS, “Firearms and Crime Statistics”: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/guns.htm.
10. Table adapted from Table A.10 in World Health Organization (WHO), World Report on Violence and Health, Geneva: WHO, 2002, p. 323.
11. JHCGP, “Licensing And Registration of Firearms Makes It Harder for Criminals and Juveniles to Get Guns, New Study Shows”, 30 August 2001:  www.jhsph.edu/Press_Room/Press_Releases/gun_laws.html.
12. Michael T. Klare, “AK-47 Seizure in S.F. a Wakeup Call on Dangers of Gun Trade”, Jinn Magazine, 28 May 1996: www.pacificnews.org/jinn/stories/2.11/960528-gun.html.
13. Ioan Grillo, ”Illegal Arms Pervasive In Mexico And Most Obtained From the U.S.”, Houston Chronicle, 12 October 2003.
14. Todd Ruger, “Gun Control Advocate Seek Ban”, Quad City Times, 14 November 2003.
15. “U.S. Lets Scofflaw Gun Dealers Continue to Arm Criminals”, USA Today, 14 January 2004.
16. Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research (JHCGPR), “Factsheet: Firearm Death and Injury in the United States”, January 2004: www.jhsph.edu/gunpolicy/US_factsheet_2004.pdf.
17. JHCGPR, “Factsheet: Stolen Guns”, February 2003: www.jhsph.edu/gunpolicy/gun_theft_fs.pdf.
18. National Report of the United States of America on the Implementation of the United Nations' Small Arms and Light Weapons Programme of Action, 2002, submitted to the UN Department of Disarmament Affairs: http://disarmament.un.org/cab/salw-nationalreports.html.
19. JHCGPR, “Factsheet: Guns in the Home”, May 2002: www.jhsph.edu/gunpolicy/Guns_in_Home.pdf.
20. World Health Organization (WHO), World Report on Violence and Health, Geneva: WHO, 2002.
21. T.R. Miller and M.A. Cohen, “Costs of gunshot and cut/stab wounds in the United States, with some Canadian comparisons“, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 29, 1997, pp. 329–341.
22. E.G. Krug, K.E. Powell and L.L. Dahlberg, “Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle- income countries“, International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 27, 1998: 214-221.
23. Margaret Coker, “Illegal Soviet weapons fuel wars around world”, Special Report: Small Arms, Mass Destruction, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8 July 2001. Available at: www.nisat.org.
24. Violence Policy Center (VPC), The Campaign to Ban Assault Weapons: www.vpc.org.
25. “New U.S. provision puts gun records out of public's reach“, USA Today, 14 February 2004: www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-02-14-gun-records_x.htm. 
26. Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig, Guns in America: Results of a Comprehensive Survey on Private Firearms Ownership and Use, Washington: Police Foundation, 1996.
27. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), “Assault Weapon Ban Basics”: www.csgv.org/issues/assaultweapons/banbasics.cfm.
28. VPC, Officer Down: Assault Weapons and the War on Law Enforcement, May 2003: www.vpc.org/studies/officecont.htm.
29. Ian Robertson, “20,000 Seized in Probe”, Toronto Sun, 2 May 2000. Available at: www.nisat.org.  See also Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC), “Firearm Control Program Busts Large Cross-Border Smuggling Ring”, 2 May 2000: www.cfc-ccaf.gc.ca/en/general_public/news_releases/smug_ring.asp.
30. “College Students Are Said to Aid Gun Ring”, Associated Press, 12 December 2003.
31. Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, On Target: The Impact of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Act, March 2004: www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/200403/on_target.pdf. (Accessed 29 March 2004)