Laws imposing waiting periods require that a specified number of days elapse between the time a firearm is purchased and it is physically transferred to the purchaser. The goals of a waiting period are to: (1) give law enforcement officials sufficient time to perform a background check; and (2) provide a “cooling off” period to help guard against impulsive acts of violence.
Waiting periods also help reduce suicides and other impulsive acts of violence. Suicides are frequently impulsive acts, and approximately 90% of people who have lived through a suicide attempt do not subsequently die in suicides.4 A person who attempts suicide by a method other than a firearm is much more likely to live than a person who uses a firearm.5
• Approximately 50% of suicides in the U.S. are committed with a gun.6
• More than 90% of all suicide attempts with a firearm, if serious enough to require hospital treatment, result in death.7
• Suicide attempts by jumping, by comparison, carry a 34% fatality rate; suicide attempts by drug poisoning carry a 2% fatality rate.8
States with firearm waiting period laws have significantly lower rates of suicide. Research published in the American Journal of Public Health showed that states with a law in place that required a waiting period for the completion of handgun sales had 27% fewer suicides per capita and 51% fewer firearm suicides.9
Americans strongly support waiting periods for firearm purchases. A December 2011 poll found that 74% of people without a firearm in the home support a five-day waiting period for the purchase of firearms, while 66% of non-NRA gun-owners and 50% of NRA members support this measure.10
4 FEATURES OFCOMPREHENSIVE LAW
The features listed below are intended to provide a framework from which policy options may be considered. A jurisdiction considering new legislation should consult with counsel.
o Waiting period is established for all firearm purchases, of sufficient duration to allow a cooling-off period prior to the purchaser taking possession of the firearm
o Permits to carry firearms in public do not exempt a purchaser from the waiting period
o Transfer of firearms is prohibited until the background check process has been completed, regardless of whether the waiting period has elapsed