Permit-to-Purchase Law Lowers Gun-Related Death Rate in Connecticut

According to a recent study, the Connecticut gun permit law
has significantly lowered the amount of gun-related crime
in the state.
Image:  Shutterstock

A recent study found that the rate of gun-related murders in Connecticut fell sharply in the 10 years since the state implemented a law requiring people buying firearms to have a license and background check.

As of 1995, residents in Connecticut who want to purchase a gun must apply for a license or permit with the local police, a process that involves a background check and at least eight hours of gun safety training.  The law also raised the legal age for gun ownership from 18 to 21.

In order to determine the effectiveness of this law, researchers compared gun-related homicide rates in Connecticut with other states that had similar levels of gun-related homicide before 1995—namely, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maryland.  They found that the level of these homicides in Connecticut dropped below that in other states.

They estimated that, if the gun law hadn’t been enacted, Connecticut would have had 740 gun-related murders between 1995 and 2005.  In fact, there were only 444, a 40% decrease.

“I did expect a reduction, [but] 40% is probably a little higher than I would have guessed,” said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.  Webester led the study, which was published on Friday in The American Journal of Public Health.

Webster says it’s difficult to know whether or not Connecticut will continue to see positive results from the 1995 legal action, however.  The researchers did find that the numbers rebounded after the study period, though that’s true of gun-related deaths across the country, not just in Connecticut.

Still, many are seeing the study as indicative of the positive effects of gun control.  “Permit-to-purchase requirements for all handguns keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those who would fail a background check,” said US Senator Chris Murphy.  Murphy and fellow lawmakers are in the process of presenting a bill that would help other states create similar programs to the one in Connecticut.