Evidence of Background Checks in an Online Firearms Marketplace

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Coleman Drake, University of Pittsburgh; Ashley M Hernandez, University of Minnesota Minneapolis; Yang Liu, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Adam H Schwartz, University of Minnesota Minneapolis; Maria E Sundaram, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-11-01
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.006
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
• Volume: 57
• Issue: 5
• Start Page: 718
• End Page: 720
• Grant/Funding Information: Although this work was itself unfunded, Dr Sundaram’s position at Emory University is currently funded by grant T32AI074492 from the Emory Vaccinology Training Program of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Medicine, General & Internal; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Science & Technology; General & Internal Medicine

Abstract

Injuries and deaths from firearms are increasingly recognized as a public health crisis in the U.S.1 Studies investigating whether background check requirements reduce firearm-related homicide and suicide have been inconclusive,2 though some studies suggest these requirements may be effective at reducing firearm deaths.3,4 Currently, federal regulations require that firearm dealers with a federal firearms license conduct a background check before sales.5,6 However, although some states require private sellers to conduct a background check, federal regulations do not require private sellers to conduct background checks.7 In the last decade, online firearms marketplaces for private sellers have emerged, potentially allowing buyers to circumvent background checks by purchasing firearms through a private sale.8 One such popular website is Armslist.com. The objective of this study is to identify the number and percentage of firearm listings in which sellers on Armslist.com indicate they are seeking evidence of some form of a background check from a buyer before the purchase of a firearm.