But there's lots of movement at the state level -- both to limit gun access and to expand it. This past legislative session, gun control advocates celebrated the passage of bills across the country limiting domestic violence abusers' access to guns. Meanwhile, gun rights supporters celebrated a slew of bills expanding when and how people can carry guns (like into schools and on to university campuses).
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit group that supports gun control, keeps close track of all this. Every year, it ranks states' gun laws, which vary widely and are increasingly influenced by local politics. (Not surprisingly, states with Republican leaders tend to limit gun control, and vice-versa for states with Democratic leaders.)
We used the center's most recent rankings (from the 2014 legislative session) to find out which three states have the strictest gun laws on record and which three states have the most lax gun laws.
Notably, the strictest state in the nation is California, where two attackers killed 14 people and injured 21 at an office holiday party in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
Here are the states and their laws:
