One in five Americans buy a gun without a background check
Strange (and probably horrifying to some) as it may seem, I remember a time when
FIVE OF FIVE AMERICANS BOUGHT A GUN WITHOUT A BACKGROUND CHECK!
And, to be honest, I don't see us as being any better off today. Worse, if anything...
It's possible that the researchers (and possibly the article writer) are conflating true online sales with face-to-face transactions that were merely facilitated by social media.
I think it more than just possible, I think it's quite likely. Remember these are the same kind of people who consider everyone who physically has a gun in their hands to be a "gun owner" and everyone who steps off the concrete with a gun to be a "hunter".
Meet someone online, and LATER do a face to face sale, they WILL count that as an internet sale. Just the same as if you meet someone at a gun show, and then, LATER buy/sell them something at a different location, they will count it as a sale "taking advantage of the gun show loophole". (or whatever buzz words they are using at the time)
Since 1968 we have been sold a bill of goods about prohibited persons, mail order sales, and many, many other things. (yes, I know the origins go back much further, but 68 was the first Federal law that affected virtually everyone in the country)
Today we have the idea that a background check is NEEDED for our SAFETY. EACH AND EVERY TIME a gun is transferred.
And the general public as eaten it up, with relish. Since it is still not universal in the US, we keep getting articles like the one in the OP, doing its best to convince us that we are at risk WITHOUT background checks being done on 100% of all gun transfers.
Its not true, and never will be, no matter how many times, or how many different ways they repeat it.