Relation of Driving Under the Influence Law to Access to Firearms Across US States

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Objectives. To determine differences among US states in how driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) laws activate federal firearm possession and purchase prohibitions.

Methods. We performed primary legislative research to characterize DUI laws in each state. The primary outcome was the number of DUI convictions an individual must be convicted of in each state to activate the federal firearm possession and purchase prohibition. We also determined the time interval in which previous DUI convictions count for future proceedings.

Results. Forty-seven states had DUI laws that activated the federal prohibition of firearm possession and purchase for a threshold number of repeated DUIs. Variation exists among states in the number of convictions (1–4) and length of liability period (5 years–lifetime) required to prohibit firearm possession and purchase.

Conclusions. Variation in state laws on DUI results in differences in determining who is federally prohibited from possessing and purchasing firearms. Future research should explore whether these federal prohibitions arising from DUI convictions are enforced and whether an association exists between stricter DUI policies and reduction in firearm crimes, injuries, and deaths.

Previous studies indicate that there is an association between alcohol misuse and increased risk of firearm injuries and deaths.1–7 Wintemute et al. found that firearm owners in California with driving under the influence (DUI) convictions had a 4- to 4.5-fold increased risk of a subsequent violent or firearm-related arrest over a median 8-year follow-up period compared with firearm owners without previous criminal convictions.2 Similar results were found in an update of the previous study.3 In these studies, even among individuals who had non-DUI criminal histories, a DUI conviction was associated with increased likelihood to commit firearm-related violent crime. Another study found an association between conviction of DUI and increased risk to be arrested for intimate partner violence.4 Alcohol misuse has been associated with intimate partner violence,5,6 interpersonal assault, and firearm-related deaths.7 Individuals who misuse alcohol are at higher risk of dying by firearm suicide.7 As a result of all of these factors, some researchers have proposed restrictions that reduce access to firearms by individuals who misuse alcohol as a potential avenue to reduce firearm suicides, injuries, and homicides.1,4,8

Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the District of Columbia specifically outlaw firearm possession and acquisition based on DUI convictions. Maryland makes the possession of firearms by a “habitual drunkard” illegal, where “habitual drunkard” is defined as someone who has been found guilty of 3 DUI offenses, 1 of which was in the past year.9 Pennsylvania forbids possession and other actions by individuals who have been convicted of DUI 3 times in a 5-year period.10 In the District of Columbia, no individuals will be issued a handgun registration certificate if they have been convicted of 2 DUI offenses in the past 5 years.11 Indiana formerly forbade transferring firearms to individuals who had had 2 or more alcohol-related convictions, 1 of which occurred in the preceding 3 years, but this restriction was repealed in 2014.12 Many other states have statutes forbidding alcohol users from purchasing or possessing firearms that use vague terminology like “drunkards,” “chronic alcoholics,” or “habitual alcohol use.”1,13 These states do not define the use of these terms with any objective criteria, and commentators have suggested that these laws are not effectively enforceable as a result.1,8 Federal law does not restrict individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms on the basis of alcohol-related convictions or intoxication, nor for other indicators of chronic or hazardous alcohol use.1

Laws exist at the state and federal level that are not specific to DUI but nevertheless can apply to individuals based on DUI convictions. US federal law 18 USC §922(g)(1), established by the Gun Control Act of 1968, forbids firearm possession and purchase by individuals convicted in any US jurisdiction of “a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year”; this category is defined by 18 USC §921(a)(20) to exclude any state offense defined as a misdemeanor that is punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or less. As such, if an individual is convicted of either a misdemeanor punishable by longer than 2 years imprisonment or a felony, federal law prohibits the individual from purchasing or possessing a firearm. Individuals under indictment for a qualifying offense are prohibited from firearm purchase, but not from possession. Because what constitutes an applicable crime is determined “in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held,”14 it is subject to differences in how states choose to classify and punish DUI offenses. Researchers have found substantial differences in the strength of impaired driving policy among states.15 Those differences in impaired driving policy could be reflected in substantial differences in who becomes prohibited as a result of DUI convictions.

A comprehensive ascertainment of how the federal prohibition on firearm possession and purchase comes into effect on individuals convicted of DUI is lacking in the public health literature. In this article, we review the current landscape of state DUI laws regarding how they activate federal firearm prohibitions on possession and purchase, and we demonstrate how such firearm restrictions are related to the interplay between state and federal laws. This information will be of use to researchers assessing the effect of DUI-related firearm possession and purchase prohibitions on firearm-related injuries, deaths, and violence. State policymakers may benefit by understanding how state DUI laws, in the context of specific federal statutes, result in firearm prohibitions. In general, individuals may benefit by better understanding what factors lead to a federal prohibition from firearm possession and purchase in their states.

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305995

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS