Western State Gun Laws

The most regulated state (California) has a third as many gun deaths per capita as the least regulated state (Wyoming).

+Universal background checks include background checks on private purchases, such as at gun shows or over the internet.

++Federal law prohibits people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors or with a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a gun, but excludes partners who are not married, convicted stalkers and others. States are not forced to report domestic violence convictions to the federal background-check database.

+++Federal law prohibits possession of a firearm by any person who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective” or involuntarily “committed to any mental institution.” But states are not required to report the identities of these individuals to the FBI, and many do not.

(1) To review the exceptions, click here.

(2) Utah conducts its own background checks on guns purchased from licensed dealers.

(3) Colorado prohibits large capacity ammunition magazines but does not regulate assault weapons or 50 caliber rifles.

(4) Only while the person is serving probation for that conviction.

(5) Only if a firearm is used in perpetrating domestic violence.

(6) To review exceptions, click here.

(7) To review exceptions, click here.

Via the High Country News (chart in 2015 story updated as of March 23, 2021).