A synthetic control study of the effects of comprehensive background check policies on non-fatal firearm crime in five states
Background checks are central to many firearm policies in the United States, yet several studies, including this one, do not detect an association between comprehensive background check policies and state-level firearm violence rates. These findings highlight the need to understand how the design, implementation, and enforcement of these laws can be improved.
Authors
- Garen J. Wintemute (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6748-8512)
- Rose M. C. Kagawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1402-1721)
- Amanda Charbonneau
- Daniel Webster
- Alex Kwong
- Alexander D. McCourt
- Jon S. Vernick
- Christopher McCort
Institutions
- RAND Corporation (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Injury Epidemiology
- Published
- 2026-02-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-026-00662-9
- Primary Topic
- Gun Ownership and Violence Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00