Okay, exactly what is the "gunshow loophole"?

[truebrit71]

I hear the phrase bandied around alot, but I have never had a clear understanding of what it actually is.

This is a serious question, not flame-bait, so please leave your pro-gun/anti-gun agenda at the door, and try and answer the question for me.

Thanks!

[onehandle]

1. Here:

'Federal law allows people who sell guns to avoid running background checks or keeping records by calling themselves occasional sellers, and these sellers often congregate at gun shows. The loophole provides criminals with easy access to firearms without having to worry about any background checks.'

'All four guns used in the Columbine school massacre were bought at gun shows without background checks.'

http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/federal/gun_show.shtml

[oneshooter]

6. Please don't tell fibs. n/t

[eqfan592]

8. Actually, they were bought...

...by a straw purchaser, which was an illegal act. Citing Mayors Against Illegal Guns as a source for anything firearm relating is like citing the Creationist Museum for information about the Theory of Evolution.

[rl6214]

12. Oh come on, seriously?

You are going to get a definition from mayors against illegal guns and really say that is a real definition?

give me a break

[MineralMan]

2. Here's Wikipedia's explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_shows_in_the_United_States

A lot depends on the state you're in. In California, for example, all sales must go through an FDL. In other states, private sales do not require background checks.

[Logical]

3. See my post. It is really a "Private Sale"

[spin]

4. It's a catchy phrase used by organizations like the Brady Campaign ...

similar to other phrases like "Saturday night special", "plastic gun", "cop killer bullets", "assault weapon", and "assault clip."

Such phrases are used to stir emotions and are often false and misleading. "Gun show loophole" is a phrase that is far more disturbing than saying "private citizen sales at gun shows."

[onehandle]

9. Like that catchy phrase, 'dead people.'

If only we could get rid of that false and misleading misnomer in the lame stream media.

How about, 'acceleration zero?' People will think it's a new Coca-Cola product.

[rl6214]

13. With posts like this one you are climbing the ladder rather quickly.

[Straw Man]

15. I prefer "vitally challenged."

It works on so many levels...

[hack89]

5. It has nothing to do with gun shows

the laws concerning the sale of weapons are the same inside a gun show as they are outside.

The proper term is "private sales" - a person who does not make a living selling guns can sell a gun to another resident of his state while they are actually in that state. By law they are not allowed to do background checks. They can sell a gun anywhere - on the internet, in the paper, in their living room, in the parking lot.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. The fiction is that people doing this do not make a living selling guns.

Most private sales, of course, are just that. But you KNOW there are people who collect guns from other sources including estate auctions and other gun sellers, then go to gun shows to re-sell them for a profit. What better place to find customers than at a gun show?

[hack89]

11. The ATF has strict standards as to how much money you can make

before you are considered a dealer - those people you are talking about are criminals. If these folks keep popping at gun shows they will attract attention - if not from the ATF then from all the legal gun dealers that pay a lot of money to maintain their licenses. I doubt it is a huge problem.

[Straw Man]

14. Fiction?

Most private sales, of course, are just that. But you KNOW there are people who collect guns from other sources including estate auctions and other gun sellers, then go to gun shows to re-sell them for a profit.

Of course there are. I know people who do exactly that. They have FFLs. They conduct NICS checks. Do it without an FFL and you risk this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x426236

[petronius]

7. It's not a loophole, exactly, just a difference between laws applying to firearms dealers

and private citizens.

A dealer (defined as a "person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail") is required to perform a background check on any sale, no matter where it takes place. A private seller is not required to do so, and is in fact prohibited from using the background check system. Private sellers can sell anywhere, including gun shows.

State laws vary, however, and can be more strict than the federal. Here in CA, all sales are required to go through dealers, and thus background checks. I think that in some other states it's required that any sale occurring at a gun show go through a check, but not otherwise.

So there's really no such thing as a "gun show loophole" - it's a buzzword that's supposed to sound a bit scary...