Policy Document Series · Issue 10 of 35 · Safety & Justice
Gun Policy
Regulate Heavily, Respect Rights, Save Lives

47,000 Americans die from gun violence every year. The Second Amendment is real — and so is the evidence that licensing, waiting periods, red flag laws, and safe storage save thousands of lives without taking a single gun from a law-abiding citizen.

47K Gun deaths per year — 130 people every single day
22% Of gun acquisitions bypass background checks entirely
140× Higher gun homicide rate than the United Kingdom
−28% Homicide reduction from Connecticut's licensing law
Contents
Section 01

Executive Summary

The United States suffers 47,000 gun deaths per year — a rate that no peer democracy comes close to matching. The Common Good Party respects the Second Amendment right to own firearms and demands the most comprehensive evidence-based regulation the Constitution allows.

Built on evidence, designed for constitutional durability. Every pillar is structured to survive post-Bruen scrutiny. The core package — licensing, waiting periods, ERPOs, and safe storage — functions independently even if the assault weapons ban is struck down. This platform is built on what works and what survives the courts.

Pillar Measured Impact Constitutional Status
Federal Licensing −18–28% homicide, −33% suicide Bruen-preserved
Universal Background Checks Floor, not ceiling — necessary, insufficient alone No challenge
Red Flag / ERPO 1 suicide prevented per 17 orders issued Affirmed by Rahimi 8–1
Safe Storage / CAP −13% child deaths, −59% unintentional Self-defense exception
Assault Weapons Ban Dramatically lower mass shooting casualties At risk — may be struck down
Accountability / PLCAA repeal Ends unique industry immunity Legislative action
Community Violence Intervention −30–60% gun violence in targeted areas No constitutional issue
Section 02

The Problem

Gun violence in America is a public health crisis of extraordinary scale — one that every comparable nation has solved through regulation, and one that America has failed to address through political cowardice and industry capture.

47,000 gun deaths per year. Roughly 130 people every single day. 58% are suicides, 40% are homicides, 2% are other causes. The US gun homicide rate is 5.6 per 100,000 — 8 times higher than Canada, 43 times higher than Switzerland, and 140 times higher than the United Kingdom.

22% of all gun acquisitions bypass background checks entirely — through private sales, gun shows, and online transfers with no federal requirement. 4.6 million children live in homes with loaded, unlocked firearms. Child firearm deaths are now the leading cause of death for American children and adolescents.

The US is not an outlier because of culture or mental health. It is an outlier because of access. The US does not have higher rates of mental illness than peer countries. It has dramatically higher rates of gun availability without vetting. Gun violence is a public health crisis — the policy response must address both homicide and suicide, and the social conditions that produce violence.

Sources: Pew / CDC — Gun Deaths Data · Annals of Internal Medicine — Background Check Gaps · Everytown — Children and Guns · CFR — US Gun Policy Global Comparisons

Section 03

How We Got Here

American gun policy has been shaped by decades of political gridlock, industry lobbying, and a Supreme Court that has progressively clarified — not closed — the space for regulation. The legal and legislative timeline is essential context.

1939
United States v. Miller
The Supreme Court upholds the National Firearms Act, ruling that the Second Amendment protects arms bearing connected to militia service — the "collective right" interpretation that stood for nearly 70 years.
1994–2004
Federal Assault Weapons Ban
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act bans the manufacture of semi-automatic assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use. The law includes a 10-year sunset clause. Congress allows it to expire in 2004; it has never been renewed.
2008
District of Columbia v. Heller
In a 5–4 decision authored by Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court establishes an individual right to possess firearms unconnected to militia service. Critically, Scalia writes: "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited." The opinion explicitly preserves prohibitions on felon possession, laws forbidding firearms in sensitive places, and conditions on commercial sale.
2010
McDonald v. City of Chicago
The Court incorporates the Second Amendment against state and local governments via the 14th Amendment — meaning Heller's individual right applies nationwide, not just in federal enclaves.
2022
NYSRPA v. Bruen
The Court strikes down New York's discretionary concealed carry licensing system and adopts a new "historical tradition" test for evaluating firearms regulations. But the decision explicitly preserves objective, non-discretionary "shall-issue" licensing systems — the model this platform adopts.

The constitutional landscape is clearer than the debate suggests. Heller (2008) established an individual right to own firearms but explicitly stated it is not unlimited. Bruen (2022) struck down discretionary licensing but explicitly preserved objective, non-discretionary systems. Rahimi (8–1, 2024) affirmed the government's authority to disarm dangerous individuals — strong constitutional grounding for red flag laws. Bondi v. VanDerStok (7–2) upheld ghost gun regulations.

Industry capture has been the decisive obstacle. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) grants gun manufacturers immunity from civil lawsuits — a protection unavailable to car, drug, or food manufacturers. The Dickey Amendment effectively blocked CDC gun violence research for two decades. The NRA's political spending has made gun regulation one of the most difficult legislative lifts in American politics. The Cargill decision struck down the bump stock rule on statutory grounds — but Congress can legislate where ATF regulation failed.

Sources: AP — SCOTUS and Assault Weapons · The Trace — Ghost Guns and VanDerStok · Justia — DC v. Heller · Justia — NYSRPA v. Bruen

Section 04

What Other Countries Do

Every peer democracy with dramatically lower gun death rates requires licensing, does not accept self-defense as a standalone justification for a gun license, and tracks firearms. The US cannot adopt all three due to the Second Amendment. But licensing — the most effective single intervention — is both transferable and constitutionally available.

Country Guns / 100 People Gun Homicide Rate vs. US Key Policy
United States 120.5 5.6 per 100K — Background check only
Canada 34.7 0.72 8× lower License + wait + handgun freeze
Switzerland 27.6 0.13 43× lower License + registration + carry ban
Australia 14.5 0.10 56× lower License + "genuine reason" + buyback
United Kingdom ~5 ~0.04 140× lower Handgun ban + police vetting
Japan 0.25 0.003 1,900× lower Near-total prohibition

The common thread is not bans — it is licensing. Switzerland has high gun ownership and 43× lower homicide. The lesson is not fewer guns; it is vetted gun owners. Objective, non-discretionary licensing is precisely what Bruen preserved. This is the most transferable, most evidence-supported, and most constitutionally durable policy available to the United States.

Sources: Small Arms Survey · UNODC Gun Death Data

Section 05

Our Policy — Seven Pillars

Seven pillars, built on evidence, designed for constitutional durability. Pillars 1–4 and 6–7 form the core package and function independently if Pillar 5 is struck down by the Supreme Court.

Pillar 1 · Centerpiece Federal Licensing
Evidence: −18–28% homicide · −33% suicide · Bruen-compliant
  • National permit-to-purchase system for all firearms. In-person application to law enforcement, fingerprinting, comprehensive background check, completion of a firearms safety course.
  • 7-day waiting period for processing. License valid for 5 years with renewal requiring an updated background check.
  • No discretionary denial — objective criteria only. Fully compliant with Bruen's explicit preservation of objective, non-discretionary licensing.
  • Modeled on Connecticut and Massachusetts: CT's 1995 law produced −28% homicide, −33% suicide. States with licensing have 18% lower firearm homicide than UBC-only states.
  • Why licensing, not just UBCs: Universal background checks without licensing show no statistically significant standalone effect on homicide. Licensing works because it requires in-person vetting, training, and delay.
Pillar 2 Universal Background Checks + Enforcement
Evidence: The floor — necessary, insufficient without licensing
  • Close the private sale loophole: all firearm transfers — gun shows, online, person-to-person — must go through a licensed dealer with a background check.
  • Strengthen NICS: require states to upload all disqualifying records within 72 hours. The system only works if it has complete data.
  • Background check funded federally — no cost to the buyer.
Pillar 3 Red Flag Laws with Full Due Process
Evidence: 1 suicide prevented per 17 ERPOs · Affirmed by Rahimi 8–1
  • Federal ERPO framework: law enforcement, family members, and healthcare providers can petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from individuals posing a credible danger.
  • Robust due process protections: hearing within 14 days, clear and convincing evidence standard, right to appointed counsel, mandatory mental health referral, orders limited to 1 year without renewal.
  • Constitutional grounding is solid: 22 states plus DC have ERPOs. No court has struck one down post-Bruen. Rahimi (8–1, 2024) provides the strongest possible foundation.
Pillar 4 Safe Storage and Child Protection
Evidence: −13% child firearm fatalities · −59% unintentional deaths under strongest standards
  • Federal safe storage requirement: firearms must be secured when not under the owner's direct control. Self-defense exception for immediately accessible firearms in the home.
  • Criminal liability when an unsecured firearm is accessed by a minor or prohibited person. Strengthen the Crumbley precedent for parental accountability.
  • Federal funding for free gun locks and safes distributed through law enforcement, dealers, and community organizations. Reduce cost as a barrier to compliance.
Pillar 5 · Constitutional Risk Assault Weapons Ban & High-Capacity Magazines
Evidence: dramatically higher mass shooting casualties · risk: may be struck down within 1–2 SCOTUS terms
  • Reinstate and strengthen the federal assault weapons ban: prohibit sale, manufacture, and import of semi-automatic assault-style weapons and magazines exceeding 10 rounds for civilian use.
  • Existing weapons grandfathered — no confiscation. Voluntary buyback at fair market value.
  • Honest framing: this addresses mass shootings, where assault weapons produce dramatically higher casualties. But rifles account for only 4% of gun murders. This is one component, not the solution.
  • Constitutional risk acknowledged: four circuits have upheld AWBs, but SCOTUS may strike one down. If so, Pillars 1–4 and 6–7 continue as the full core package.
Pillar 6 Accountability and Transparency
Evidence: ends unique legal immunity available to no other American industry
  • Repeal PLCAA — gun manufacturers face the same civil liability as every other industry. No more special immunity unavailable to car, drug, or food companies.
  • Ban bump stocks by statute — Cargill struck down the ATF rule on statutory grounds; Congress can and must legislate directly.
  • Regulate ghost guns — enforce serial number and background check requirements, upheld 7–2 in Bondi v. VanDerStok.
  • Fully fund CDC and NIH gun violence research. End the Dickey Amendment research blackout. Build a national gun violence data system.
  • Excise tax on firearms and ammunition to fund violence prevention, trauma care, and community intervention.
Pillar 7 Community Violence Intervention
Evidence: −30–60% gun violence in targeted neighborhoods
  • Federal investment in evidence-based CVI programs: hospital-based violence intervention, street outreach, and group violence intervention — each with demonstrated 30–60% reductions in targeted areas.
  • Gun policy is not only about the weapons. Housing First (Issue 3), universal healthcare including mental health (Issue 1), education investment (Issue 4), and criminal justice reform (Issue 12) all reduce the upstream conditions that produce violence.
What This Platform Does Not Do
We are not coming for your guns.
Does not ban handguns — unconstitutional under Heller and the wrong focus.
Does not create a federal firearms registry — constitutionally precarious and unnecessary when licensing achieves the vetting function.
Does not confiscate existing weapons — grandfathering plus voluntary buyback only.
Does not prohibit concealed carry — Bruen settled this; shall-issue with objective criteria.
Does not rely on voluntary buybacks as crime reduction — the evidence says they don't work for that purpose.
Does not treat gun owners as criminals — it regulates guns the way we regulate cars: licensing, training, accountability.

Sources: Johns Hopkins — Permit-to-Purchase · Tufts — Gun Permits vs. UBC · CT Hospital Assn — Red Flag Effectiveness · Children's Hospital — CAP Laws · PMC — Assault Weapon Casualties · The Trace — Buyback Evidence

Section 06

How We Pay For It

Gun violence costs the United States an estimated $557 billion per year — $280 billion in direct and indirect costs (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2023) plus additional economic losses from reduced property values, business disruption, and community disinvestment. Total 10-year program cost: $25–35 billion. Total 10-year savings from violence reduction: $75–150 billion (conservatively assuming a 5–10% reduction in gun violence). Every dollar spent on prevention returns $3–5 in reduced costs downstream.

Component 10-Year Cost Funding Source & Notes
Universal background check system (NICS expansion) $1.5–2.5B Federal appropriations for FBI NICS Division expansion: $150–250M/year to handle an estimated 10–15 million additional checks annually from private sales and gun show transactions. Mandatory state record uploads within 72 hours funded by federal grants. (FBI CJIS Division budget; Everytown cost estimates)
Federal licensing system $3–5B $300–500M/year for a national licensing infrastructure covering application processing, safety training verification, and database management. Modeled on the driver’s license system. No cost to the applicant — this is not a poll tax on a right. (RAND Corporation, “The Effects of Firearm Policies,” 2023)
ATF funding increase $5–8B ATF current budget: ~$1.7B/year with ~5,000 agents — fewer than when it was formed in 1972. Increase to $2.2–2.5B/year (+$500–800M/year) to hire 1,500+ additional agents for trafficking enforcement, FFL inspections, and regulatory compliance. Current inspection rate: each FFL dealer is inspected once every 7–10 years. (ATF budget justification FY2024; DOJ Inspector General reports)
ERPO (red flag law) implementation grants $3–5B $300–500M/year in federal grants to states for court infrastructure, judge and law enforcement training, due process protections, and gun storage facilities. Approximately $6–10M per state per year. States with ERPOs have seen 5–14% reductions in firearm suicide rates. (RAND Corporation; Annals of Internal Medicine, 2018)
Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs $5–8B $500M–$800M/year for evidence-based CVI in the 50 highest-violence cities. Programs like CURE Violence and READI Chicago reduce shootings by 40–70% in target areas at a cost of $10,000–15,000 per participant — vs. $1.4 million average lifetime cost per shooting victim. Funded by federal firearms and ammunition excise tax (Pittman-Robertson Act, currently generating $1.1B/year for wildlife — a parallel excise dedicated to violence prevention). (National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)
CDC / NIH gun violence research $1–1.5B $100–150M/year to end the Dickey Amendment research blackout and build a comprehensive national firearm injury surveillance system. For comparison, the federal government spends $6B/year on cancer research and $600M/year on traffic safety research. Gun violence kills 45,000 Americans/year — more than car crashes. (CDC WISQARS; NIH budget data)
Free gun locks, safe storage subsidies $2–3B $200–300M/year for universal free gun lock distribution and subsidized safe storage. 4.6 million children live in homes with unsecured firearms. Safe storage laws reduce youth firearm injuries by 13% and unintentional deaths by up to 32%. Funded by existing firearms excise tax revenue. (Everytown; JAMA Pediatrics, 2019)
Voluntary buyback program $3–5B $300–500M/year at fair market value for voluntarily surrendered assault-style weapons. Estimated 20 million assault-style weapons in circulation. Even 5–10% participation removes 1–2 million weapons. Funded by expanded firearms excise tax. (ATF firearms tracing data; Australian buyback cost analysis)

10-year fiscal summary: Total program investment of $25–35 billion, funded by a combination of federal appropriations, expanded firearms/ammunition excise taxes (estimated $2–3B/year), and savings from reduced violence. Offset: gun violence currently costs $280 billion/year in medical care ($8.6B), criminal justice ($4.5B), lost income and employer costs ($267B in lost productivity and quality of life). A conservative 5–10% reduction in gun violence saves $75–150 billion over 10 years — a 3–5x return on investment. (Everytown for Gun Safety, “The Economic Cost of Gun Violence,” 2023; Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions)

What inaction costs: 45,000 Americans die from gun violence each year. 85,000 more survive gunshot wounds. The average gunshot hospitalization costs $154,000 in medical expenses alone. Taxpayers fund 75% of gun violence medical costs through Medicaid, Medicare, and uncompensated care. The question is not whether we can afford these reforms — it is whether we can afford to keep paying $280 billion per year for a crisis we refuse to address. (GAO; Health Affairs, 2017; Everytown, 2023)

Section 07

Implementation Timeline

Phase 1 — Day 1 to Month 6
Immediate Legislative Action
Universal background check law enacted. Ghost gun regulation codified by statute. Bump stock ban legislated by Congress. CDC/NIH research funding restored. Federal ERPO framework introduced. Excise tax enacted.
Phase 2 — Month 6 to Year 1
System Design and Foundation
Federal licensing system designed and piloted in partnership with states. NICS strengthening mandated. Safe storage law enacted. PLCAA repeal introduced. Free gun lock distribution begins.
Phase 3 — Year 1 to Year 2
Full Deployment
Federal licensing operational nationwide. Assault weapons ban enacted. CVI programs funded and expanded to high-violence cities. Voluntary buyback launched at fair market value.
Phase 4 — Year 2 to Year 5
Measure, Defend, Adjust
Full system operational. Measure outcomes against baseline. Defend policies in court. If AWB is struck down, core package continues functioning. Adjust based on evidence — this platform is built to update.
Section 08

Addressing Counterarguments

"The Second Amendment protects unlimited gun rights."
It does not. Even Heller — which established the individual right — explicitly stated that "the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited." Bruen struck down discretionary licensing but preserved objective licensing. Rahimi (8–1) affirmed the government's power to disarm dangerous individuals. Every policy in this platform operates within the constitutional space the Court itself has defined.
"Gun laws don't work — criminals don't follow laws."
Connecticut's licensing law reduced homicide 28% and suicide 33%. Waiting periods reduce homicide 17%. Red flag laws prevent 1 suicide per 17 orders. States with licensing have 18% lower firearm homicide than UBC-only states. Every peer country that regulates more heavily has dramatically lower gun death rates. The evidence is not ambiguous — and it is the same kind of evidence we use to make every other public health decision.
"Mental health, not guns, is the problem."
The US does not have higher rates of mental illness than peer countries. It has dramatically higher rates of gun access without vetting. This platform addresses both — universal mental healthcare through Issue 1, and supply-side interventions through licensing, waiting periods, ERPOs, and safe storage. Both matter. Only the access problem is unique to America.
"You're coming for our guns."
This platform does not ban handguns, does not create a registry, does not confiscate existing weapons, and does not prohibit concealed carry. It requires a license to purchase, a waiting period, safe storage, and the ability to temporarily remove firearms from people in crisis. It regulates guns the way we regulate cars — with licensing, training, and accountability. That is not confiscation. That is governance.
"The assault weapons ban won't survive the courts."
It might not. We say that honestly. Four circuits have upheld AWBs, but SCOTUS may strike one down within 1–2 terms. That is exactly why the core package — licensing, waiting periods, ERPOs, safe storage, and accountability — is designed to function independently. We include the AWB because the evidence supports it and mass shooting casualties with assault weapons are dramatically higher. If the Court disagrees, the rest of the platform keeps saving lives.
Section 09

Cross-References

Issue 1
HealthcareSingle-payer covers mental health universally — addressing the demand side of suicide prevention alongside the supply-side interventions in this platform.
Issue 2
TaxationExcise tax funds prevention; progressive revenue funds community violence intervention programs in high-risk cities.
Issue 3
HousingHousing First reduces the social instability and community breakdown most correlated with gun violence. Safe housing is violence prevention.
Issue 4
EducationFunded schools with counselors and mental health support reduce the pipeline to violence. Literacy is a violence prevention program.
Issue 9
Defense SpendingSame operating principle: responsible regulation and accountability, not abolition. The military analogy holds — we don't give up weapons, we track and control them.
Issue 12
Criminal JusticeMass incarceration does not reduce gun violence. Community-based intervention and reentry support do. Upstream solutions reduce the demand side.
"The United States does not have to accept 47,000 gun deaths a year. Every comparable country has solved this problem. The Second Amendment is real — and so is the evidence that licensing, waiting periods, red flag laws, and safe storage save thousands of lives without taking a single gun from a law-abiding citizen. Regulate heavily. Respect the right. Save lives."
— The Common Good Party
Paid for by The Common Good Party (thecommongoodparty.com) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.