Here is an excerpt from J. R. Labbe's column in The Star-Telegram:
"There's a practical reason the proposed law requiring private gun owners to conduct background checks on potential buyers at a gun show is unworkable. Only federally licensed firearm dealers have access to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. An individual gun owner, who's paid a rental fee to set up a table at a gun show to sell from a personal collection, can't place that call, which is probably why Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg, Dianne Feinstein and Jack Reed think that it's a peachy idea to make it part of federal law. Lautenberg, of New Jersey, recently filed a bill that would "close the gun show loophole" by making a nonlicensed person who wants to sell a gun "use an FFL (Federal Firearms License) at the gun show to complete the transaction." Question: Who's going to force the FFL holder, who's invested a lot of time and money to meet the requirements for getting that license, to take time away from his or her business to run a check for the guy at the next booth? Even if one agrees to do it, there will no doubt be a hefty fee for the service. Say goodbye to private collectors at gun shows." Link to Full Column
Analysis: Well, yes and no. This is a very passionately written opinion column that makes some good points, but there are some items that are not completely correct and need to be clarified.
First, let's talk about the Federal Firearms License, or FFL. You have to apply for one by filling out an ATF Form 7 and following the ATF guidelines for applicants. You CANNOT apply for an FFL for the sole purpose of selling guns at a gun show. The FFL is issued for one location only - the location where you would ostensibly run your firearms business. The FFL will allow you to sell guns at gun shows in the same state for which your FFL was issued, but the key is that you have to have that permanent business location. Also, the license isn't as expensive or time-consuming to acquire as the author might have you believe. The license costs $200, is good for three years, and costs $90 to renew. Yes, you can still sell your weapons to people (in some states) at your home, in a parking lot, or wherever without an FFL. Yes, if a law like this passes, most private sellers will be inconvenienced by not being able to sell their guns at gun shows when they can still legally sell them elsewhere, and there is an element of silliness to that.
Now, legislative and political issues aside, let's talk about something the author doesn't mention, although it probably would have fit right in with her argument. The majority of guns that are purchased in the US by straw buyers are bought LEGALLY, from both licensed and non-licensed gun sellers. The straw buyers have clean backgrounds, fill out all the requisite forms, claim (falsely) that the guns are for personal use, then leave and pass the guns on to whoever is going to transport them south into Mexico. Passing legislation to close the "gun show loophole" and remove non-licensed sellers from gun shows isn't, in my humble opinion, going to make a dent in the weapons trafficking problem because DTO-bound guns can still be bought through existing venues.
As I've mentioned many times before in this blog, geographical proximity is constantly working against authorities trying to deal with this problem on both sides of the border. The straw buyer methodology is a great one for the DTOs, and unless you outlaw the sale of guns in the US altogether (which will never and should never happen), it's going to keep working. Passing new laws isn't going to help when you're having trouble enforcing existing laws. The focus needs to be on better enforcement, detection, and prevention of straw purchases with the cooperation of the licensed and non-licensed gun-selling community.
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