The Writer's Guide to Firearms and Ammunition

1. Just the Facts

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"There Ought To Be A Law . . ." (And There Is)

• You must be 18 years old to purchase long guns (rifles and shotguns) and 21 years old to purchase handguns.

• You must be 18 to purchase rifle or shotgun ammunition and 21 to purchase handgun ammunition.

• It is illegal for certain categories of people to ship, transport, receive or possess firearms. These categories include any person:

• under indictment for, or convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
• who is a fugitive
• who is an unlawful user or addicted to any controlled substance
• who is an illegal alien
• who has been dishonorably discharged from the military
• who is subject to a restraining order from harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner or child
• who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
• who has been adjudicated mentally defective, or had been committed to any mental institution
• who was a citizen of the United States but has renounced citizenship

• Mail order sales or other transfers of firearms between individuals in different states are illegal.

• It is illegal to have, ship or receive a firearm that has its permanent serial number missing or changed.

• It is illegal to purchase a firearm with the intent to sell it to an unqualified third party. These are called "strawman" purchases.

• A federal firearms licensee must make an official record of every sale or transfer of all firearms and notify the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) if multiple firearms sales are made to any person in a single transaction.

• It is illegal to manufacture or sell ammunition specifically designed to defeat body armor.

• Theft of a firearm from a federally licensed dealer is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine of $250,000 (18 United States Code §922(u)).

Safety Facts

Accidental firearm-related fatalities are at their lowest point since record-keeping began in 1903. Today, the annual number of firearm-related accidents is down 77 percent, from a high of 3,200 in 1930, to 730 in 2005. (Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts Report, 2007 edition)

Hunting is one of the safest forms of recreation in America. In a recent 10-year period, the number of fatal accidents declined by more than half (53 percent), from 91 in 1995 to 42 reported in 2005. In the same time period non-fatal accidents declined by 60 percent from 957 incidents to 392 incidents. (Source: International Hunter Education Association - Hunting Incident Summary)

• The firearms and ammunition industries and associated groups have distributed tens of millions of safety brochures over the past 15 years. Source: Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute (SAAMI).

• Hunter education programs now involve more than 54,000 instructors and over 600,000 students annually, in all 50 states. Over 24 million have graduated since hunter education became a mandatory requirement to get a hunting license. Source: International Hunter Education Association.

• Individually, there were more accidental fatalities due to motor vehicles, falls, drownings, fires and burns, ingestion of food and/or objects, and poisoning than by firearms in 2005. Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts Report, 2007 edition.

Economic Impact Of The Shooting Sports

• The nation’s hunters and recreational shooters spend $24.7 billion annually on equipment, including firearms, ammunition, clothing, reloading equipment, optics and accessories. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

• Hunting- and shooting-related industries employ more people than all Sears stores. Source: SAAMI, Market Size and Economic Impact of the Sporting Firearms and Ammunition Industry in America, p.2.

• More than 31.7 million Americans participated in at least one of the shooting sports in 2006. That’s over 6.2 times the number of people who played racquetball during the same period, five times as many as water ski and nearly 7 million more than those who played golf. Source: 2006 American Sports Data, Superstudy of Sports Participation.

• There are an estimated 230 million firearms in America today. Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) estimates that one of every two homes contains at least one firearm.

• The firearms and ammunition industry supports an 11% excise tax on all rifles, shotguns and ammunition, and a 10% excise tax on handguns, which raises more than $163 million annually for wildlife management, habitat acquisition and safety training. Since 1937, $4 billion has been raised. Source: SAAMI Excise Tax Study, and ATF-Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Collection.

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