Firing Back: Do All “Illlegal” Guns Really Begin “Legally?”

One of the big arguments against the so-called “gun show loophole” by anti-gun fanatics is that all illegal firearms must somehow begin as legally owned firearms. There is the argument, again made by anti-gun fanatics and cited far too often in the mainstream media, that these guns are bought legally and somehow handed off illegally to criminals.

There is a problem with this argument. If Joe can legally buy a gun but Frank cannot (because of a criminal past for example), and Joe gives Frank the gun, Joe has broken the law. This is something that the mainstream media fails to pick up on. If caught and convicted, Joe would no longer be able to buy guns and act as a “straw buyer.” Here is clearly a case where existing guns law, if enforced, would solve the problem. Instead the MSM and anti-gun zealots would prefer to see Peter, John, Chris and others from buying any guns – or making it hard for them to do so – simply to keep Joe from buying guns for Frank. And what’s to say that Joe and Frank won’t just go to illegal sources?

That’s the other point that the MSM and the anti-gun radicals fail to understand. Time and time again editorials claim that “ALL” guns must have been legal at some point. This is either a revisionist view of history, or worse a complete and total lack of understanding of the same history.

Today more than 1,000 veterans of World War II – what have become known as the Greatest Generation (and rightfully so for their service for our country) – are dying each and every day. That is a sad truth about the passage of time. But these men and women, who are now in their 80s at least, aren’t getting any younger. And when they returned home from the battlefields in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific they brought home souvenirs, which may have included guns.

In many states rifles are not actually registered, so there is simply no idea of how many exist from that era. Likewise, in the 1940s it wasn’t necessary to register a handgun. Many soldiers were allowed to keep their American sidearms, while the German pistols of the era were prized items. And before you think that 60+ year old guns aren’t gun, think again. A well-kept firearm would operate just like the day it was made.

OK, so while these guns may have been locked away in closets, in storage trunks in attics or boxes in basements, there is absolutely no doubt that there are a lot of guns that fell through the cracks. On the one hand it would be easy to simply put the blanket statement that those vets with such items have broken the law, but clearly this is one example of where illegal guns could come from.

In recent months there have been news stories of Japanese machine guns found dumped in the river. Likely a veteran passed away, the family found these and didn’t know what to do. For the record, contacting the police and handing in the guns is a good idea if you think it is illegal to own. But sadly whether dumped in a river or handed in, a piece of history is lost. It is ironic that the liberal media sheds a tear when an old building is torn down, but hardly cares when items of historic military significance are lost.

But the final point is that we have no idea how many WWII era guns are out there. That’s just one example of how illegal guns didn’t necessarily begin as legally purchased items. At least not in the United States.