What is "The Gunshow Loophole"?

W

Waitone

New member
I give. I'm confused. At a recent gunshow here in NC, I observed a transaction in which an individual purchased a firearm. From my perspective it looked pretty much like a transaction which takes place in a brick and mortar gunshop. In other words, I do not see a loophole.

Can someone define for me what the "gunshow loophole" is?


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Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Barry Goldwater--1964
 
The so-called "gun show loophole" should be more accurately called the "private sale loophole".

Klinton et al would like to make it illegal for me, a private individual (not an FFL holder), to bring my privately owned firearm to a gun show and sell or trade it to another private individual (not a dealer) attending the show without a "Brady Check".

Right now it is legal for me to buy or sell a gun to/from another individual as long as we both obey all State and Federal Gun Laws. No background check is required and I couldn't request one if I wanted to (not authorized)! The fact is, if I wanted to buy or sell, we could exit the show and make the deal legally outside. That would be the next thing they would want to stop - and then all private sales...it never ends.

Mikey
 
that is the table you know you just passed that had a few hi-cap mags for $5.ea. then when you went back the whole table had somehow vanished
but really
just more bs from bc.
 
To elaborate on Mikey's reply... There is no such thing as the "gun show loophole." It's like "plastic" handguns.

Here's the deal. Federal law already requires any FFL dealer to do paperwork REGARDLESS of where they perform the transaction (gun show, gun shop, home-based business). The antis know this, but instead of pushing directly for a private transfer paperwork law (which would be a difficult sell), they are inventing this "loophole." If they can convince enough people that gun shows are "bad," a criminal's candy store so to speak, then they might be able to get such a law passed requiring private transfer paperwork at gunshows. Guess what? Two months down the road they have found another loophole... I shouldn't be able to go across the street to my neighbor's garage and sell him a hunting rifle without the necessary paperwork. Another magic loophole. And so on, and so on, and so on. This is the slippery slope of gun control. Fight all gun control no matter how reasonable it sounds. These people are slowly chipping away at our Constitutional Rights, and if it takes 20 years to accomplish their goals, fine with them.
 
Mikey gave a perfect explanation.

There is a reason you're confused. For that matter, I'll wager most of the country is confused on this issue. It is because the media have often reported it this way, and politicians encourage the same confusion. The average person now believes that you can just walk into a gun show and buy any new or used firearm without a background check / paperwork.

I'd wager that 90% to 95% of all gun show transactions go through the normal FFL / background check routine.

Another example of the incredible distortion in this debate. Another example of how our enemies lie and cheat in order to sway public opinion. Anti-self defense gun bigots have no shame. No shame.

Live and let live. Regards from AZ
 
"Klinton et al would like to make it illegal for me, a private individual (not an FFL holder), to bring my privately owned firearm to a gun show and sell or trade it to another private individual"

Just another brick in the wall. After they ban private sales in gun shows they will say, "Hey, look. People are selling guns out of newspapers without the benefit of a Brady Check."

Of course, with the new Ludwig/Cook study we know that the Brady Law isn't designed to lower crime, it is designed to illegally register gun buyers. Hell, if two anti-gun "researchers" like L & C can say it, I sure as hell can.

I hope you have brought the study up to your local papers. No doubt most of them supported the law in editorial opinions.

Rick
 
Waitone, it goes further than what's been described here. A "gun show," according to the bill, is any place where fifty or more guns are for sale. That could encompass some large shooting events.

But, let's say you and I meet at a gun show. You've got a gun I'd like to buy, but we can't agree on a price, so we part company. Months later we meet again at the range, and we strike a deal. If we don't go through the background check at a licensed dealer, we're in deep trouble, because the sale technically originated at a gun show.

Here in Milwaukee, closing the "gun show loophole" would eliminate almost 100% of the private transactions, since the local paper does not allow firearms ads in the classifieds section. I suspect most big-city
newspapers have a similar policy.

This is just another backdoor attempt to get all the guns registered.

Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner
you know.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Monkeyleg:
Here in Milwaukee, closing the "gun show loophole" would eliminate almost 100% of the private transactions, since the local paper does not allow firearms ads in the classifieds section. I suspect most big-city
newspapers have a similar policy.
[/quote]

Maybe where you live, but I have yet to see a newspaper in Florida or Texas that does not run classifieds for guns.
 
There are many big city papers that do not allow firearms in the classified section. Meaning that their rights to free speech and running their business trumps any need I might have to dispose of my property in the most cost effective way. Seeing that many big city journals are a defacto monopoly it would seem like fertile ground for a tort attorney to make a few bucks because of the "restraint of trade". It should even be a Federal issue since papers are transported across state lines and so interstate commerce is in effect. Also, the Internet, distributes the paper globally even. Hmmmm, I smell some money to be made. My paper, That Atlanta Journal & Constitution (more like the Atlanta Urinal & Constipation) is owned by one of the wealthiest anti-gun bigots in the world - Anne Cox Chambers. Anyone out there willing to try and pick these "deep pockets"? How can we invoke the RICO statute on this one?
But the phrase "unlicensed dealer", which is often used in these stories about the "gun show loophole", is a devious distortion of truth. ALL dealers are licensed by the government. If you are "dealing" in weapons without a license you have broken the law and are subject to prosecution. If this is ocurring at gun shows then why aren't the laws being enforced? Perhaps to create a fictitious "need" for more legislation that is even more oppressive than the current laws?

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"The more perfect
civilisation is, the less occasion has it for government." Thomas Paine The Rights of Man 1792
 
Arizona is a pretty friendly state for the RKBA. In spite of this, Tucson has become more leftist, and their main papers no longer take firearm classified ads.

Fortunately, the Phoenix papers still do. For now ... I'll be surprised if it stays that way.

Live and let live. Regards from AZ
 
The gun show "loophole" is located just between the x-ray invisible "plastic pistols" and the "cop-killer bullets" on aisle 2.

Hope that helps :) :)

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NRA Life Member
GOA
GSSF
 
As I said before, the Milwaukee Urninal Sentinel refuses to run gun classified ads. Two years ago, an FFL friend of mine had a Springfield Armory M1 he wanted to sell. The paper said no. He demanded to talk to the head of legal, and told the guy that he was an FFL, and the paper ran display ads for KMart, Gander Mountain and other stores selling guns. His threat of a lawsuit got the paper to run his ad. But, he's a licensed dealer and I'm not.

How could you sue a paper for restraint of trade? Wouldn't that be like trying to sue McDonalds for not offering tofu burgers?

Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
 
Waitone,

bottom line is, the "loophole" is the Fourth Amendment. Private citizens selling personal effects to other private citizens.

Is there a point at which someone doing this is working with a volume of inventory more like a FFL than a regular person? Yes. And it is already a crime, which the BATF occasionally enforces.

David,

the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel stopped carrying gun ads in the classifieds about a year ago. This was a while after Columbine, and a couple of people wrote in and bitched about the ads. One guy complained about stuff like a full-auto Thompson being offered in an ad for $300, which of course was a big steaming pile of BS, because I definitely would have noticed that one. I don't think the Miami Herald does either.

Then again, I understand there is a debate in the rest of Florida as to whether Dade (Miami) and Broward (Ft. Laud.) are really a part of the state anymore... :)
 
Klinton dictionary says : Gun Show loop hole When the government is puting you neck in the LOOP you had beter cover your HOLE!
 
( siiigghhhh!) Here in PRK we have already lost the "privilege of making private sales/purchases at gunshows or anywhere else.Its violated all to h***, but you've got to be very careful, as the "man" is always trying to set up a sting,- from either end of the transaction!
crankshaft
nralife, goa, jpfo, fcsa, smvfm
paranoia is a good thing to have when they are actually out to get You!
 
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