Closing the Gun Show Loophole

RICHMOND, Va. - Legislation introduced Monday would require private sellers at gun shows to obtain a criminal background check on buyers.

The measure would close the so-called gun show loophole, where licensed dealers are required to run background checks on anyone wanting to buy a gun, but unlicensed dealers - those selling guns from their personal collection - are not.

OK, first some background on gun shows. At every gun show that I've been too, you will find that nearly all the guns that are being sold by dealers setup along tables. These dealers are licensed by the government. When you buy a gun from them, you fill out some paperwork, which the dealer must keep for several years before destroying. The dealer is also required to call the state police and perform a criminal check. If you come up clean, then you can buy the gun.

Now, amongst this sea of tables & licensed dealers, you'll have a couple dozen guys who have their unloaded rifles slung over their shoulders, usually with a piece of paper taped to the gun with a price on it. These are the guys who are looking to unload their rifles. These are the so called "unlicensed dealers". These are ordinary people, who own guns, but for whatever reasons they want to sell off that old shotgun, or whatever. Currently, transactions between these people are not regulated, which is the "loophole" that oft gets talked about.

The problem is that a very small number of guns find their way into criminal hands via person to person sales, which sometimes occur at gun shows. What gun control advocates are calling for in this bill is the following:

Let's say Bob has a rifle and Joe wants to buy it from him. Bob & Joe would have to go to one of the many dealers at the show. They would pay the dealer $15, and the dealer would then run the background check on Joe. If it came up clean, then Joe could buy the gun from Bob. Otherwise, no deal. Either way, the dealer gets to keep the $15. However, if the deal goes through, then dealer must now keep that record on hand for the next 20 years. This, for a gun that they did not own, for a gun that they did not sell.

Now, let's say you're that dealer, and 20 years from now you get audited. It's already hard enough to keep the records straight and available for the guns that you bought and sold, but now you'd be required to deliver information on transactions that you merely acted as the mediator for. This is unfair.

Also, at most gun shows, the dealers are very busy calling in background checks for actual customers. If this law passed, I doubt that Bob and Joe would be willing to find an agreeable dealer who would perform the transaction and be willing to keep the paperwork on hand for the next 20 years.

Next, let's say Bob didn't go to the gunshow. Instead, he sold his old duck hunting shotgun to his pal Bill, who he has known for years. This would be illegal under the new laws.

Furthermore, many gun owners are very paranoid about licensing schemes, which in other countries have been used as lists for when gun confiscation is dictated by the government. Keeping a record of a civilian gun transaction on hand for 20-25 years, is in effect, keeping a list of all gun owners.

So, how would I fix this problem?

I would shift some of the burden here. Let's say that instead of that plan, we go with this: at each gun show, the state shall provide two police officers who shall oversee all person-to-person transactions. One of the officers will have a laptop, which will have a cellular wireless card, that will allow him to run instant background checks right then and there on the spot. From our example, Bob and Joe would go to the cops at the gunshow, and the state would oversee the transaction. The state should then only keep the paperwork on file for a period of no longer than 5 years. Because really, if the guy was going to commit a crime with his newly purchased duck hunting shotgun, he would have done it within the first year or two of ownership. After 5 years, he has proven to the state that he or she is a law abiding citizen. This would close the loophole, while providing honest citizens a means of safely transferring firearms to other law abiding citizens as they wish, while providing reasonable privacy protections.

Or at least, this is the best solution that I could come up with when plagued by insomnia.