A Research Paper Discussing What Exactly Is a Gun Show Loophole

Gun Show Loophole is a term that refers to laws that permits private persons not indulge in the business of dealing with firearms to put on the market guns at gun shows without a background checks on purchasers or keeping records of sale. The United States federal law requires individuals engaged in interstate firearm commerce to have a Federal Firearm License and conduct background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System controlled by the FBI prior to transferring guns. However, under the terms of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, individuals who are not engaged in the business of firearms or who make occasional sales in their state of residence are under no requirement to perform background checks on purchasers or keep records of sale.

Gun Show Loophole
This is a momentary exhibition where ammunition, guns, firearm accessories, Jerky, literature, Knives and other miscellaneous collectibles are put on display, sold, traded, bought and discussed. Gun shows frequently include exhibitions connected to hunting and the preservation and preparation of wild game for consumption. They could be used by gun manufacturers to display new firearm models or by gun enthusiasts to demonstrate unusual or antique guns. Gun shows provide a recurring meeting place or common place for gun culture members.

The shows are normally held in public building including malls, hotels, stadiums, armories etc and are open to the community with a nominal fee charged for entry. They are always a two day event held on weekends by the promoters who rent the space and allow dealers to lease tables to exhibit their wares and advertise the services that they provide. Under the GCA (Gun Control Act) of 1968, dealers of firearms with a FFL (Federal Firearms License) were banned from doing business at gun shows. That changed with the performance of the FOPA (Firearm Owners Protection Act) of 1986, which permitted Federal Firearms License to take firearms at gun shows so long as they follow the provisions of the Gun Control Act and other pertinent federal rules and regulations.

Pros and Cons of gun show loophole
Those in quest of closing the Gun Show Loophole disagree that it provides convicted criminals and other prohibited purchasers like for example substance abusers, domestic abusers, those who have been adjudicated as mental defectives and so on with opportunities to avoid background checks as they can buy firearms without any difficulty from private sellers with no oversight or accountability.  A national poll performed by Mayors against Illegal Guns shows that 87 of Americans and 83 of gun owners would like the loophole to be closed. However, gun show loophole has been arguable with gun rights advocates.

They argue that there is no loophole, only a long standing tradition of free business between private firms that heretofore has not been prohibited in the context of secondary, intrastate sales of firearm. In addition, they argue that the word Gun Show Loophole is misunderstood as sellers of private firearm are not permitted to conduct background checks regardless of location, whether they are at a flea market, a gun show, their home, or anywhere else. They also dispute federal jurisdiction in intrastate business between private firms which they disagree exceeds the federal power implemented by the Commerce Clause.  Currently, 17 states control the sales of private firearm at gun shows by them selves. Seven states insist on background checks on all sales of gun at the gun shows, that is California, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Connecticut, Illinois and Colorado. Four states Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania insist on background checks on the entire hand gun but not long gun purchasers at the gun shows. As noted by Duggan, Hjalmarsson, and Jacob (2008) five states insist on individuals to get a permit to purchase hand guns that involves a background check, these are North Carolina, Massachusetts, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska. Some counties in Florida insist on background checks on the entire private sales of hand guns at gun shows. The remaining 33 states do not limit private, intrastate sales of firearms at gun shows in any manner.

The top firearm banning priority of the aggressive citizen disarmament lobby will be called assault weapons with their second favorite target 50 caliber rifles.  Gun dealers who are licensed are required by federal law to go over all the hoops background checks, sales records and so on at gun shows that they do in their enterprises. According to the forcible citizen disarmament lobby, the problem is the private sellers who can put up for sale guns from their individual collections devoid of all the red tape. According to the CSGV (coalition to stop gun violence), these unlicensed sellers make up 25 to 50 of the retailers at gun shows. This suitably ignores the fact that many of the retailers at gun shows do not sell guns but war memorabilia, t-shirts, books, etc.

Worse yet, ending private sales at gun shows is not going to satisfy these people. After all, a private sale at the gun show is not different in principle from a private sale elsewhere. In fact, The Brady Campaign, no longer bothers to conceal the fact that the goal is to prohibit on the entire private gun sales as they continuously shoot out. They undoubtedly argue that they are not trying to outlaw private sales but they just want to insist on federal background checks. Of course, the problem with that logic is that there is nothing private about a sale that can only continue with government monitoring and approval in order to ensure make that terrorist plots are not being hatched.

Effects
Between 2003 and 2006, more than 500 guns legally bought at the gun shows from licensed dealers in the city of Richmond, Virginia, were later found in connection with illegal activity. The figure above do not take into account the firearms that could have been sold at Richmond area gun shows by sellers who are unlicensed  as these kind of transactions are more complex to follow up. It is notable that the in connection with illegal activity group includes stolen guns later retrieved from burglaries but the report does not identify how many guns in the 500 gun figure cited were not used in the commission of an offense but that were rather the fruits of illegal activity.

Gun shows is identified as a source used by criminals and other local gang members to obtain guns.  A lot of the recovered guns in high crime regions of the city had been bought at a local gun shows. A lot of gun shows attracted large numbers of gang members who often purchase in large quantities of assault weapons and smuggled them. Every year hundreds and thousands of guns are sold with no a background checks by vendors who argue that they are simply selling from their individual gun collection so they do not see the need of keeping records of their transactions or have federal gun vendors license.

A lot of of these sales take place at gun shows and from classified sellers. This provides an outstanding opportunity for criminals to obtain firearms. The Columbine shooters acquired their weapons from gun show by buying them anonymously. The opposition to gun control explains that if more gun control policy were implemented people wishing to protect them selves would be unable to do so. This is untrue, if those people wish to only protect them selves would like to own a firearm after a simple background check and five day waiting period they could be able to own one. Instead of relying only on guns for defense perhaps more non lethal weapons could be used.

Conclusion
I stand by the evaluation but I envisage that even before they make an intensive effort to ban any guns, they will go after gun sales majorly, private sales at gun shows and the loophole such sales allegedly represent. This goes way beyond the fact that closing the gun show loophole is stated as a priority of the urban policy and that closing of the loophole is a long period priority of the new attorney general who has affirmed that in his view, the Supreme Courts Heller choice poses no impediment to such a measure. Gun show loophole has become so invasive that in the last presidential election has long taken an extensively publicized standpoint in favor of prohibition private sales at the gun shows.

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