More on Bloomberg
To get something out of the way, the dealers who broke the law, well, broke the law. And that’s damaging. I’m not defending them. And don’t care to. They do more harm than good. But they didn’t break the law because they were at a gun show. They broke the law because they broke the law. That could have been done in private or anywhere. When people break the law, that’s not a loophole. It’s like saying that on the drive in I broke the 55MPH loophole by going 56MPH. And their breaking the law is some bad PR for gun shows.
There is no definition in the law for what qualifies as an ‘unlicensed dealer’ and it basically comes down to prosecutor discretion. Looks like some of those unlicensed guys had tables with price tags and were seen on tape discussing their yearly sales. I’m no lawyer, but that seems to fit the bill for dealing firearms without a license.
My issue with it is the fact that the investigation illustrated that you can break the law by breaking the law. If a person purchases a handgun out of state, they break the law. They have a webpage set up and a report in which they state they bought guns out of state (page 17). That’s illegal. Also, they engaged in straw purchases, also illegal.
Others:
Sebastian looks at the numbers.
But what about the transactions between private individuals (including some who appear to actually be dealers) that aren’t illegal?
Well, that’s sort of what it’s all about. Gun shows would be a first step at regulating all sales. The anti gun crowd knows that. But regulating all private sales sounds more ominous than closing the ‘gun show loophole’, which sounds bad since loophole is right there in the phrase. Gun shows are subject to the same regulations as any other sale. If you pass bills mandating all sales at gun shows must go through background checks and such, then you’ll have the parking lot loophole. And on and on. There’s a reason they won’t say they want to regulate all private transfers and limit the discussion to gun shows. People tend to support one and not the other. After all, who wants to run a background check on a family member they gift a gun to?
October 8th, 2009 at 10:33 am
After all, who wants to run a background check on a family member they gift a gun to?
I would…background checks are fun.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:35 am
The TICS checks aren’t that fun. They’re ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
October 8th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
“It’s like saying that on the drive in I broke the 55MPH loophole by going 56MPH.”
Markie Marxist sez: “That’s an excellent argument for banning private vehicles and requiring everyone to use public transportation. Anyone speeds – no private vehicles! It’s just common communist sense.”