As violent crime rates appear to be falling after a pandemic-related spike, gun violence continues to plague communities around the country.
In 2024, there have been nearly 500 mass shootings, according to a database maintained by Gun Violence America. The deadliest occurred in a Chicago suburb in January, killing eight people.
In light of the recent school shooting in Wisconsin, President Joe Biden spoke of his administration’s work aimed at reducing gun violence, including passing the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years.
“But more is needed,” he said.
States have also taken steps to pass their own gun regulations. Here is what advocates in gun policy had to say about the 2024 legislative year and a look at some laws coming into effect in the new year
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By and large, the state laws related to gun safety taking effect in 2025 enforce gun safety, according to the gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
“America’s gun violence epidemic is not inevitable, it is the logical outcome of lawmakers’ callous inaction in service to the gun lobby,” Monisha Henley, senior vice president for government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, told USA TODAY in a statement. “As we head into the New Year, not a single consequential law rolling back our progress on gun safety will go into effect, but countless laws making our communities safer will. As we head into 2025 one thing remains clear: gun safety isn’t just good policy, it’s good politics.”
But the National Rifle Association also trumpeted victories in 2024. John Commerford, Interim Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) heralded the election of a “pro-gun president” and Republican majorities in the congressional chambers.
“Much to the dismay of gun control activists, Second Amendment rights were protected and expanded in a number of states in 2024,” Commerford said in a statement to USA TODAY.
The organization pointed to South Carolina and Louisiana, which passed and enacted legislation in 2024 allowing lawful gun owners to carry a firearm without a permit, and Colorado, Maine and New Mexico, where efforts to pass bans on certain types of firearms failed.
Here are some laws going into effect on Jan. 1 around the country.
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In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of laws aimed at strengthening gun safety regulations. Those include requiring schools to implement safety programs and plans, and establishing an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which have deadlines in the coming years.
Some of those laws go into effect on Jan. 1 including:
“California won’t wait until the next school shooting or mass shooting to act,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news release. “In the absence of congressional action, our state is once again leading the way by strengthening our nation-leading gun laws.”
As of Jan. 1, any handgun stored inside an unoccupied vehicle in Colorado must be in a locked, hard-sided container that is out of plain view, and the vehicle also must be locked, with some exceptions.
Later in 2025, Coloradans who want to apply for a concealed carry permit will be required to complete an eight-hour training class, which includes a written exam and a live-fire exercise. The law, which goes into effect July 1, also prohibits anyone who was convicted of certain misdemeanor offenses from obtaining a concealed carry permit, if those offenses happened within five years of the application.
The only gun-related bills signed into law in 2024 in New Hampshire expanded gun rights. Going into effect on Jan, 1. HB 1186 strengthens privacy protections around gun laws by prohibiting the use of specific merchant category codes, and HB 1336 bars employers from forbidding employees from storing guns in locked vehicles. SB 322, which already went into effect in July, protects law enforcement officers who issue gun licenses “in good faith.”
After a security guard was shot and killed while in the line of duty at the New Hampshire Hospital in 2023, some lawmakers pushed for new gun regulations. One, called Bradley’s Law, was a bipartisan sponsored bill to require serious mental health information to be reported to the federal background check system for firearm purchases. But while the bill passed the House, it failed in the Senate.
The NRA touted that several states have passed laws to prohibit assigning a code for gun retailers, known as a “merchant category code.” The MCCs can be used by financial institutions to see what kinds of purchases are made, though it does not show the specific item purchased.
Kentucky is one of 10 states that passed an MCC ban in 2024, according to the NRA, and at least five other states have previously passed those laws while a handful of other states, including California, have passed legislation requiring it.
Kentucky’s ban goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025.
Minnesota passed a binary trigger ban, which goes into effect on Jan. 1. A binary trigger allows a gun to be fired once when the trigger is pulled, then again when the trigger is released.
Delaware will include university campuses in the Safe School Zone, making it a felony offense to possess a firearm on campus, as of Jan. 1.
New York will require gun dealers to post signs warning consumers of the risk of gun ownership starting Jan. 7. In the new year, New York is also implementing a statewide registry of extreme risk protection orders, which bars someone from owning a gun temporarily if they are deemed at risk to themselves or others.
Contributing: Saman Shafiq, Michael Collins
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com, and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.
This article was updated to include video.
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