Illinois Congressman Calls to Close So-called “Gun Show Loophole”
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) has supports legislation to close the so-called “Gun Show Loophole” reports WGIL. The news site notes, “Quigley says the ‘guns show loophole’ is a gap in federal law that allows person-to-person sales at gun shows without a background check. Quigley says those weapons can end up in the hands of anyone, including terrorists, felons and the mentally disabled.” Read more
Gun Collecting: Machine Guns Vs. Assault Weapons
This week we launch a new column that will run every weekend on facets of gun collecting.
As we’ve reported on since launching this site more than a year ago, the fact is simple: the mainstream media does a terrible job in reporting on guns, and much of it is misunderstood even when the reporting is close to accurate. The media would have you believe that “assault weapons” are in fact “machine guns,” but that’s not really the case. Here is why. Read more
Seattle Times Calls for Ban of Guns in City Parks
Following a recent shooting at Lake Sammamish State Park, guest columnist Ralph Fascitelli writes for The Seattle Times that guns should be banned in all public places, and offers a triad on how “gun control” is the answer. His idealized view on gun control argues that it will “reduce the chances of another shooting like the one at Lake Sammamish.” But we ask whether it really would? Read more
Sonia Wolff Editorial on Buying a Gun
Maybe part of the mainstream media’s problem with guns is that there are preconceived notions on what gun owners are like; and were those prejudices used to describe other groups some might rightfully say it is narrow minded.
But in an interesting editorial for The Los Angeles Times writer Sonia Wolff explains her process from non-gun owner, who had a strong moral view towards not owning a gun, to a recent gun owner. Maybe more liberal, anti-gun types should give this a read and take a chance to understand the issue before offering an opinion.
Sonia Wolff: The reluctant gun owner
Huff and Puff Calls for Background Checks on All Gun Sales
In writing for the Huffington Post, Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence offers another editorial responding to calls from law enforcement to require background checks for gun sales. We know where Mr. Helmke stands, and we respect his opinion, but some of the statements he makes in his argument see more like opinion rather than based on actual facts. Read more
WaPo Looks at “Gun Show Loophole”
Yet another round of noise was heard this week from the mainstream media, including The Washington Post on the topic of the infamous “gun show loophole,” and the paper notes that the latest call its closure include survivors from Virginia Tech.
We do feel for these victims, and truthfully any victim of violent crime – whether a gun was used or not. The point however, remains a vast understanding of the issue of guns, gun shows and private sales. The paper noted how Colin Goddard, a former Virginia Tech student told about his work with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which documented “the ease with which he could buy arms at gun shows.”
The blog post from WaPo offers little in the way of counterpoint, so it is a typical anti-gun story. That isn’t really all the surprising.
Nor is the tone of the story all that surprisging. After all, shouldn’t it be easy to buy guns at a gun show? Just as it should be easy to buy a boat at a boat show, or furniture at a furntiure store. The purpose of a gun show is to sell guns. And yes, many states allow guns to be sold by private individuals without a background check.
What is seldom reported is that the criminal is already breaking the law for being at said gun show, is breaking the law for touching the guns and is breaking the law for buying the guns. Criminals will always find a way to get guns, and banning private sales would truly hurt the sport shooters, hunters and collectors. Of course we don’t expect the anti-gun crowd to care. But we’ll make the point again, if you want to solve drunk driving problems, ban all alcohol. That is essentially what the anti-gun is trying to do.
Banning private sales would increase costs to those who obey the law but wouldn’t make it that much harder for criminals to get guns.
Alamogordo Daily News Questions “No Guns” Signs
Here is a question: can you have a sign that says “no guns” if the venue has gun shows? That would be a lot of tables of gun cases, knives, t-shirts and all the other things we’re using to seeing at gun shows. The location would have to have a gun show without guns. Except it the signs now say “No firearms (except during Gun Shows.” Frank Gebbia Jr. writing for the Alamogordo Daily News offers an editorial on this issue – including how the signs aren’t exactly within the law:
Read More: New “No Guns” signs at fairgrounds are still illegal
Gun Show Report Offers Biased Stance
In a blog post titled “Gun show stirs concern,” the writers at LoHud.com, which is powered by The Journal News, offered a rant against a recent gun show:
“No doubt a good time was had by all at the weekend gun show at the Westchester County Center, hosting the emporium of guns, knives and collectibles for the first time in 11 years. We just hope that the event does not mark the end of the pragmatic bipartisan support for smarter gun policies that has been the regional norm these last few years.”
While this post is more editorial than news feature, we do ask whether anyone was really “concerned” by the event? Like many gun shows it is just an event. Likewise, is there really “pragmatic bipartisan support” for stricter gun policies? We would tend to disagree.
Was it Really “Hypocrisy” at NRA Convention?
Earlier this week there were cries of “hypocrisy” as guns were banned at the NRA Convention. But news has come forward – including a piece from The National Ledger – that sets the record straight:
“The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been forced into a gun ban for its annual meeting, a report from Raw Story reveals. On its website, the NRA warns: ‘North Carolina State law prohibits the carrying of firearms in the Charlotte Convention Center, and the Time Warner Cable Arena.’”
Of course we don’t expect the mainstream media to pick up on that aspect of the story.
Firing Back: Gun Show Loophole
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?
