The Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act has been introduced by 5th District Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. The legislation would create a federal grant program to incentivize state and local governments to enact laws requiring a license before a handgun can be purchased. 

Hayes says Connecticut’s permit-to-purchase law has saved lives and should be replicated on the federal level.  She called it a commonsense approach to firearm sales. 

Connecticut is among the 10 states that currently have permit-to-purchase laws on the books. 

Earlier this week, the John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research released a new white paper detailing the effectiveness of handgun licensing – including fingerprinting and in-person applications – in reducing gun violence.  Using mortality data from the Center for Disease Control, a 2015 study by Johns Hopkins University determined that when comparing to similar states with no PTP laws, Connecticut’s PTP law reduced firearm homicides by 40 percent. In 2007, Missouri repealed its requirement that handgun purchasers obtain a PTP and statistics show their state’s gun homicide rate rose by 25 percent.