Data for local CLEO's in New Jersey were ignored. Alaska submitted data for most of that State's CLEO's. This study categorized both States as State reporting agencies. Their numbers of rejections were included in the final total, however. The State police data were split into A and B categories based on the proportion of the Maine population in each category.
National estimates exclude the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Sales of firearms are prohibited in the District of Columbia except to law enforcement officers. The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D., is director. BJS Bulletins present the first release of findings from permanent data collection programs. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted with background and analysis.