Annual Gun Law Scorecard: Does Your State Make the Grade

In 2024, 28 states passed 88 gun safety laws, bringing the total of new gun safety laws since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012 to over 700. This is tremendous progress, but it's imbalanced across the states, with some passing no laws at all and others completely overhauling their firearm regulations.

These numbers only tell part of the story, because the impact of individual laws can vary. Maine, historically resistant to regulating firearms, passed just four gun safety bills this year, but these new laws-instituting a waiting period to buy a gun and expanding background checks, among other things-were significant enough that its grade leapt from a D- to a C+.

Unfortunately, this goes both ways. South Carolina passed only one law this year, but its grade dropped to an F because it legalized carrying a concealed firearm without a permit, an extremely dangerous policy that directly contributes to the gun violence crisis.

As states continue to pass gun laws, new trends are emerging, like gun industry accountability laws and funding community violence intervention. Gun safety victories in Maine and states like it show that preventing gun violence isn't at odds with responsible gun ownership-most gun owners are in favor of their legislators taking action to save lives.