Firing Back: Gun Show Loophole
Posted by FirearmsTruth on May 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment
What is this infamous gun show loophole? According to the mainstream media it is how guns go from legal to illegal. It is how guns are sold to criminals. Does the mainstream media believe that gun shows are some sort of illicit black market event out of a James Bond movie?
No, gun shows attract hunters, sport shooters and collectors. And while some sales are made by private individuals “not engaged in the business” of dealing firearms, this is hardly a loophole. In fact, the term “gun show loophole” has only been used since 1996 when it was coined by the Violence Policy Center in a published study.
One point that is routinely missed is that individuals are free to sell guns at a gun show, a flea market, their place of business (that isn’t a gun shop) or their home. If the gun show loophole were closed these private sales by those “not engaged in the business” of dealing firearms would go on. The mainstream media often fails to note this, but we also fear where this will lead.
If the loophole – if there were really such a loophole – were closed, it would mean that anti-gun zealots would go after gun sales everywhere else. They would seek out to close the “private gun sale loophole,” meaning that all gun sales need to be through those with a Federal Firearms License. For those who only buy or sell a gun once in a blue moon this could greatly increase the cost. Is this really fair to those occasional sellers, especially when it hasn’t been proven that criminals are even getting their guns from gun shows, loophole or otherwise?
