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Table 1 Description of Scales

From: A comparison and analysis of seven gun law permissiveness scales

Source

Years Available

Type

Criteria

Source:

Cato Institute

2000–2016

Score

The most significant variable in the gun rights category is the concealed carry index, which takes into account shall-issue versus may-issue, carry in vehicles, local preemption, and the scope of places where concealed carry is allowed (2.2% of the freedom index). Concealed-carry permit cost (0.5% of the index) comes next. The existence of a local gun ban is worth 0.4%. 0.4% of the index is for owner licensing requirements and waiting periods on firearms purchases. At 0.2% of the index is the term of carry permits. Other variables included in this category, and worth far less than those discussed in the previous paragraph, were also included.

https://www.freedominthe50states.org/guns

Everytown for Gun Research

1991–2020

Count of Laws

There are 67 key laws that Everytown has included in the Gun Law Navigator, from the following categories: background checks, criminals, domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, mental illness, minimum age requirements, permitting process, and other.

https://everytownresearch.org/navigator/country.html

Giffords Score Card

2010–2020

Score and Ranking

“The attorneys at Giffords Law Center spend the year tracking and analyzing gun legislation in all 50 states, evaluating bills for their relative strength or weakness. Taking note of newly enacted laws, we use an exhaustive quantitative rubric to score each state on its gun law strength, adding points for safety regulations like universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders and subtracting points for reckless policies like “Stand Your Ground” and permitless carry laws. We then rank the states, convert point totals to letter grades, and compare our findings to the most recent gun death rates released by the CDC.”

https://lawcenter.giffords.org/scorecard/

Guns and Ammo

2012–2015, 2017–2019

Ranking

“we evaluate each state numerically in each of five categories: Right to Carry (RTC), access to “Black Rifles”, the states’ use-of-force laws (i.e., Castle Doctrine or CD), the prohibition of items regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) and a catch-all Miscellaneous (MISC) column. States are awarded 0–10 points in each category and ranked according to their total number of points. In the case of a tie, which is common, we dig deeper into the “intangibles” category and rank states accordingly.”

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/best-gun-friendly-states- firearm-owners-2019/368270

Siegel

1991–2016

Count of Laws

“Using Thomson Reuters Westlaw data to access historical state statutes and session laws, we developed a database indicating the presence or absence of each of 133 provisions of firearm laws in each state over the 26-year period. These provisions covered 14 aspects of state policies, including regulation of the process by which firearm transfers take place, ammunition, firearm possession, firearm storage, firearm trafficking, and liability of firearm manufacturers.”

http://statefirearmlaws.org/

Traveler’s Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States

1997–2020

Score

This report is published yearly as a legal reference for gun owners traveling between states. The score ranges between 0 (completely restrictive) and 100 (completely permissive) for the firearm laws of all 50 states and has been used in previous research. The score considers many factors, including: standard firearms ownership and permit requirements; restrictions on semi-automatic firearms, large-capacity magazines, machine guns, and suppressors; state self-defense laws; laws governing concealed-, open- and vehicle-carry; duty to notify law enforcement of permit status; and laws that regulate firearms on school property, including vehicles parked on campus, at colleges, and K-12 schools.

https://www.gunlawguide.com/