Paul Helmke Huffs and Puffs More About So-called Gun Show Loophole
Posted by FirearmsTruth on August 26, 2010 · 2 Comments
In his latest rant for the Huffington Post, Paul Helmke asked the question, “who could possibly be opposed to closing the ‘gun show loophole?’” The president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sounds like a broken record on this topic. He goes over the same bullet points on this issue time and time again, beginning with the argument that this would somehow stand in the way of stopping “convicted felons and other dangerous persons” from obtaining dangerous weapons.
He then makes the bolt statement of how gun shows allow “private sellers at gun shows to sell AK-47s, TEC-9′s, Mac-10s and other types of high-powered and semi-automatic guns to buyers.” This sounds like scary stuff indeed, but we still can’t help believe that if Helmke had his way he’d want to stop the sale of all guns, including hunting rifles, .22 pistols and virtually every other type of firearm as well.
He uses jargon to make it sound scary. But the truth is that gun shows are hardly filled with Tec-9′s or Mac-10s these days. He also uses the term “high-powered” to imply that these guns are somehow more “dangerous” than a hunting rifle, but that is utter nonsense. The Tec-9 and Mac-10 use pistol cartridges, so they’re hardly “high-powered.” And the use of “semi-automatic” is no doubt to make the readers of the Huffington Post think machinegun, but that’s so far from the truth that it is laughable.
And let’s say that background checks were required. Who is going to pay for it? And what is to stop transactions from taking place in the parking lots, or in seller’s homes? Isn’t Mr. Helmke just once again calling for a ban on all private sales? It certainly seems that way to us.
Private sales of firearms are one of the great things about America: Freedom. Chipping away at the right of private sales will only lead towards gun registration, which opens the possibility of confiscation (at least of the legally-owned guns).
Even if the gun show loophole is closed, criminals will still obtain firearms. There are plenty of black market channels long in place for the bad guys to obtain weapons that cannot be traced to them.