Gun policy: Arguments, Evidence and Where Politicians Stand

Supporters of gun rights argue

Gun ownership is a constitutional right used overwhelmingly for lawful purposes such as self-defense, and new restrictions burden law-abiding owners more than criminals.

Supporters of stricter gun laws argue

Measures such as background checks, red-flag laws and limits on certain weapons can reduce shootings, suicides and mass killings without ending lawful ownership.

Stricter gun laws

Claim: Universal background checks, permits to carry, extreme risk orders and limits on military-style rifles would reduce the number of Americans killed by guns.

• Tens of thousands of Americans die from gun injuries every year, far more than in other wealthy countries, so supporters see gun laws as a public-health necessity.
• Research reviews rate the evidence that background checks reduce homicides as moderate, and that child-access prevention (safe storage) laws reduce youth suicides and accidental child deaths as supportive.
• Supporters argue that most of these measures, such as checks on private sales, do not stop law-abiding adults from owning guns.

Strongest counterargument: Critics point out that the same research reviews rate the evidence on many popular measures, including assault-weapon bans and the effect of most laws on mass shootings, as inconclusive, and that the Supreme Court now requires gun laws to fit the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation, which limits what can be passed. What Science Tells Us About the Effects of Gun Policies (RAND Gun Policy in America),https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/key-findings/what-science-tells-us-about-the-effects-of-gun-policies.html,updated Jan. 29, 2026

Evidence

• fact In 2024, 44,447 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S.; 62% (27,593) were suicides and 35% (15,364) were homicides. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. (Pew Research Center, using CDC mortality data) (updated April 28, 2026)
• research RAND rates the evidence that background checks decrease firearm and total homicides as moderate. What Science Tells Us About the Effects of Gun Policies (RAND Gun Policy in America) (updated Jan. 29, 2026)
• research RAND rates the evidence that child-access prevention laws decrease firearm suicides among young people, and unintentional firearm deaths among children, as supportive. What Science Tells Us About the Effects of Gun Policies (RAND Gun Policy in America) (updated Jan. 29, 2026)

Protect the right to bear arms

Claim: Law-abiding adults have a constitutional right to keep and carry guns for self-defense, and most gun restrictions burden them more than they burden criminals.

• The Supreme Court held in 2022 that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual's right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.
• Supporters say people use guns to defend themselves, and that disarming law-abiding citizens leaves them less able to do so.
• Permit rules, waiting periods and bans on common rifles, they argue, are paperwork and cost for owners while criminals obtain guns illegally.

Strongest counterargument: Critics cite research reviews rating the evidence as supportive that shall-issue concealed-carry laws and stand-your-ground laws increase firearm homicides, and note that estimates of how often guns are used in self-defense vary by a factor of 20 or more depending on the survey. What Science Tells Us About the Effects of Gun Policies (RAND Gun Policy in America),https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/key-findings/what-science-tells-us-about-the-effects-of-gun-policies.html,updated Jan. 29, 2026

Evidence

• fact In NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022) the Supreme Court struck down New York's "proper cause" requirement for a carry license and held that a gun regulation must be consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court opinion) (June 23, 2022)
• research Estimates of defensive gun use vary widely: about 116,000 incidents a year from the federal National Crime Victimization Survey, against 2.2 to 2.5 million in a 1995 private survey (Kleck and Gertz). Defensive Gun Use (RAND Gun Policy in America) (2018, with later references)

Focus on suicide and high-risk people

Claim: Since most gun deaths are suicides, the most effective approach is to keep guns away from people in crisis, through safe-storage laws and temporary extreme risk orders, rather than broad bans on gun types.

• Suicides make up about six in ten U.S. gun deaths, so measures aimed at people at risk address the largest share of deaths.
• Safe-storage laws have some of the strongest evidence of any gun policy for reducing youth suicides and accidental child deaths.
• Targeted measures can draw support from gun owners who oppose bans on the guns they own.

Strongest counterargument: Gun-rights advocates object that extreme risk orders take guns from people who have not been convicted of any crime, raising due-process concerns, and research reviews still rate the evidence that these orders reduce suicides as limited.

Evidence

• fact Suicides were 62% of U.S. gun deaths in 2024 (27,593 of 44,447). What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. (Pew Research Center, using CDC mortality data) (updated April 28, 2026)
• research RAND rates the evidence that extreme risk protection orders decrease firearm and total suicides as limited, and their effect on mass shootings as inconclusive. What Science Tells Us About the Effects of Gun Policies (RAND Gun Policy in America) (updated Jan. 29, 2026)