State and Federal Background Checks Reduce Teen Gun Carrying
Teens are less likely to carry a gun if they live in a state requiring universal background checks in addition to federal requirements, according to a new study.
According to a news report, researchers from Indiana University wanted to check whether the federal law requirement that licensed gun dealers but not private sellers must perform background checks was enough to keep guns out of teens’ hands. They used data on high school students across the country from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey from 1993-2017, which includes several years before the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) launched in 1998.