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waiting period

Firearms result in more than 33,000 deaths in the U.S. per year. Many of these incidents, particularly homicides, can be prevented with a simple solution: a waiting period.

A mandatory waiting period is exactly what it sounds like. It's a delay, anywhere from one to 10 days, between the beginning of a gun purchase and taking ownership of the weapon. This allows stores time to conduct background checks where required and gives the potential buyer a "cooling off" period to potentially prevent impulsive acts of violence.

Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.

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