A/HRC/42/21 IV. Regulation of civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms76 41. Some states of the United States have enacted laws that have considerably reduced the risks of firearm deaths and injuries. For example, 27 states have enacted child access prevention laws, which work to protect children from injuring themselves and others by requiring firearm owners to keep firearms locked away and unloaded with ammunition stored in a locked location separate from the firearm. 77 An in-depth study by the Rand Corporation has found evidence that child access prevention laws reduce the number of unintentional or self-inflicted gunshot deaths among children. 78 Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine concur, asserting that states with child access prevention laws experience one fourth as many children’s suicides by guns as states without child access prevention laws.79 42. Laws requiring background checks of potential purchasers’ mental health and criminal history, and any relevant civil orders, have also concretely reduced the risks of firearm deaths and injuries by ensuring that guns do not end up in the hands of individuals who are likely to misuse them. 80 A recent study in the United States found that the overall average number of homicides caused by firearms had dropped in states that had implemented universal background checks for handguns between 2009 and 2016. Crucially, states with universal background checks experienced 47 per cent fewer women killed in firearm-related violence by an intimate partner and 53 per cent fewer police officers killed on duty. 81 Research has also shown that background checks may decrease suicide and violent crime.82 43. In some contexts, national legislation restricting the right to carry firearms in public has also reduced levels of firearm homicides. Colombia, for instance, reported that it had experienced its lowest level of homicides in 34 years in 2017 after implementing a general suspension of permits to carry firearms from 1 February to 31 December 2016. 83 44. Similarly, legislation limiting the right of armed officers from national security services to take their service weapon home appears to reduce the amount of firearm violence against women. According to the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, a six-year study by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police concluded that a policy restricting officers from taking their service weapons home had reduced the risk of women being killed during domestic disputes.84 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 10 For a full discussion of the regulation of civilian access to firearms and its legal parameters, see A/HRC/32/21, paras. 11–50. The present report specifically addresses laws that have reduced the human rights impact of civilian access to firearms, in an effort to strengthen or develop effective national regulation. See the contribution of Amnesty International. Rand Corporation, Gun policy in America, “The effects of child access prevention laws”, available at www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/child-access-prevention.html. The Rand Corporation published its “Gun policy in America” study after having spent two years researching the effects of firearm laws and policies in the United States. Rob Goodier (Reuters), Stricter state gun laws linked to fewer child deaths from gunshot wounds, 14 November 2018. See the contribution of Amnesty International. Ibid. Rand Corporation, Gun policy in America, “The effects of background checks”, available at www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/background-checks.html. See the contribution of Colombia. United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, “Violencia armada, violencia por motivos de género y armas pequeñas: sistematizacion de datos disponibles en América Latina y el Caribe”, January 2015, p. 20.