![Seller holding rifle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Seller_holding_rifle.JPG)
Gun show loophole is a political term in the United States referring to the sale of
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
s by private sellers, including those done at
gun shows
In the United States, a gun show is an event where promoters generally rent large public venues and then rent tables for display areas for dealers of guns and related items, and charge admission for buyers. The majority of guns for sale at gun s ...
, that do not require the seller to conduct a
federal background check of the buyer.
This is also called the private sale exemption. Under federal law, any person may sell a firearm to a federally unlicensed resident of the state where they reside, as long as they do not know or have reasonable cause to believe that the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms.
Under
federal law
Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many po ...
, for sales of firearms by holders of a
Federal Firearms License
A Federal Firearms License (FFL) is a license in the United States that enables an individual or a company to engage in a business pertaining to the manufacture or importation of firearms and ammunition, or the interstate and intrastate sale of ...
(FFL), such as gun stores, pawn shops, outdoors stores and other licensees, the seller must perform a background check of the buyer, and record the sale, regardless of whether the sale takes place at the seller's regular place of business or at a gun show. Firearm sales between private individuals who reside in the same state – that is, sales in the "secondary market" – are exempt from these requirements. For private sales, under federal law any unlicensed person may sell a firearm to an unlicensed resident of the same state as long as the seller does not know or have reasonable cause to believe that the purchaser is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under federal law.
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have laws that require background checks for some or all private sales, including sales at gun shows. In some of these states, such non-commercial sales also must be facilitated through a federally licensed dealer, who performs the background check and records the sale. In other states, gun buyers must first obtain a license or permit from the state, which performs a background check before issuing the license (thus typically not requiring a duplicative background check from a gun dealer).
Since the mid-1990s,
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
advocates have campaigned for
universal background check
Proposals for universal background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), closing what is sometimes called the priva ...
s. Advocates for
gun rights
The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, including securi ...
have stated that there is no loophole, that current laws provide a single, uniform set of rules for commercial gun sellers regardless of the place of sale, and that the United States Constitution, specifically the
Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
, does not empower the federal government to regulate non-commercial, intrastate transfers of legal firearms between private citizens.
Provenance
Sometimes referred to as the Brady bill loophole, the Brady law loophole,
the gun law loophole, or the private sale loophole,
the term refers to a perceived gap in laws that address what types of sales and transfers of firearms require records and or background checks, such as the
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...
. Private parties are not legally required by federal law to: ask for identification, complete any forms, or keep any sales records, as long as the sale is not made in interstate commerce (across state lines) and does not fall under purview of the
National Firearms Act
The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as . The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufact ...
. In addition to federal legislation,
firearm laws vary by state.
Federal "gun show loophole" bills were introduced in seven consecutive
Congresses: two in 2001, two in 2004, one in 2005, one in 2007, two in 2009, two in 2011, and one in 2013. Specifically, seven gun show "loophole" bills were introduced in the U.S. House and four in the Senate between 2001 and 2013. None passed. In May 2015
Carolyn Maloney
Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City i ...
introduced H.R.2380, also referred to as the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2015. As of June 26 it has been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
In March 2017, representative Maloney also introduced H.R.1612, referred to as the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2017. In January 2019 she sponsored H.R.820 - Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2019.
States requiring background checks for private sales
A number of states have background check requirements beyond federal law. Some states require universal background checks at the point of sale for all transfers, including purchases from unlicensed sellers. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nebraska, and North Carolina laws in this regard are limited to handguns. Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey require any firearm purchaser to obtain a permit. (Illinois formerly required the permit to be verified with the state police only at gun shows, but in 2013 the law was changed to require verification for all private sales.) Vermont passed new gun control laws in 2018, one of which requires background checks for private sales. Nevada's revised law went into effect in 2020. Virginia also started requiring background checks in 2020.
A majority of these jurisdictions require unlicensed sellers to keep records of firearm sales.
Some local counties have adopted
Second Amendment sanctuary
Second Amendment sanctuary, also known as a gun sanctuary, refers to states, counties, or localities in the United States that have adopted laws or resolutions to prohibit or impede the enforcement of certain gun control measures which are perc ...
resolutions in opposition to universal background check laws.
The following table summarizes these state laws.
Notes:
Effective January 1, 2024, private sales of firearms must be done through a gun dealer with a Federal Firearms License (FFL).
History
In 1968,
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
passed the
Gun Control Act
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA or GCA68) is a U.S. federal law that regulates the firearms industry and firearms ownership. Due to constitutional limitations, the Act is primarily based on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally ...
(GCA), under which modern firearm commerce operates. The GCA mandated
Federal Firearms License
A Federal Firearms License (FFL) is a license in the United States that enables an individual or a company to engage in a business pertaining to the manufacture or importation of firearms and ammunition, or the interstate and intrastate sale of ...
s (FFLs) for those "engaged in the business" of selling firearms, but not for private individuals who sold firearms infrequently.
Under the Gun Control Act, firearm dealers were prohibited from doing business anywhere except the address listed on their Federal Firearms License. It also mandated that licensed firearm dealers maintain records of firearms sales.
[ An unlicensed person is prohibited by federal law from transferring, selling, trading, giving, transporting, or delivering a firearm to any other unlicensed person only if they know or have reasonable cause to believe the buyer does not reside in the same State or is prohibited by law from purchasing or possessing firearms.][ Out-of-State disposition of firearms by nonlicensees][
In 1986, Congress passed the ]Firearm Owners Protection Act
The Firearm Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 is a United States federal law that revised many provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968.
Federal firearms law reform
Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and F ...
(FOPA), which relaxed certain controls in the Gun Control Act and permitted licensed firearm dealers to conduct business at gun shows. Specifically, FOPA made it legal for FFL holders to make private sales, provided the firearm was transferred to the licensee's personal collection at least one year prior to the sale. Hence, when a ''personal'' firearm is sold by an FFL holder, no background check or Form 4473
A Firearms Transaction Record, or ATF Form 4473, is a six-page form prescribed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) required to be completed when a person proposes to purchase a firearm from a Federal Firearms License ...
is required by federal law. According to the ATF, FFL holders are required to keep a record of such sales in a bound book. The United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
(USDOJ) said the stated purpose of FOPA was to ensure the GCA did not "place any undue or unnecessary federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens, but it opened many loopholes through which illegal gun traffickers can slip." The scope of those who "engage in the business" of dealing in firearms (and are therefore required to have a license) was narrowed to include only those who devote "time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms." FOPA excluded those who buy and sell firearms to "enhance a personal collection" or for a "hobby," or who "sell all or part of a personal collection." According to the USDOJ, this new definition made it difficult for them to identify offenders who could claim they were operating as "hobbyists" trading firearms from their personal collection. Efforts to reverse a key feature of FOPA by requiring criminal background checks and purchase records on private sales at gun shows were unsuccessful. Those who sold only at gun shows and wanted to obtain an FFL, which would allow them to conduct background checks, were prohibited from doing so through question 18a on the ATF Form 7 (Application for Federal Firearms License). The April 2019 revision of the Form 7 removed this restriction, allowing them to obtain licenses.
In 1993, Congress enacted the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...
, amending the Gun Control Act of 1968. "The Brady Law" instituted federal background checks on all firearm purchasers who buy from federally licensed dealers (FFL). This law had no provisions for private firearms transactions or sales. The Brady Law originally imposed an interim measure, requiring a waiting period of 5 days before a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer may sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun to an unlicensed individual. The waiting period applied only in states without an alternate system that was deemed acceptable of conducting background checks on handgun purchasers. Personal transfers and sales between unlicensed Americans could also still be subject to other federal, state, and local restrictions. These interim provisions ceased to apply on November 30, 1998.
Government studies and positions
Firearm tracing starts at the manufacturer or importer and typically ends at the first private sale regardless if the private seller later sells to an FFL or uses an FFL for background checks. Analyzing data from a report released in 1997 by the National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenil ...
, fewer than 2% of convicted criminals bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show. About 12% purchased their firearm from a retail store or pawnshop, and 80% bought from family, friends, or an illegal source. An additional study performed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, published in January 2019, found that fewer than 1% of criminals obtained a firearm at a gun show (0.8%).
Under Chapter 18 Section 922 of the United States Code it is unlawful for any person "except a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer, to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms."
The federal government provides a specific definition of what a firearm dealer is. Under Chapter 18 Section 921(a)(11), a dealer is...
(A) any person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail, (B) any person engaged in the business of repairing firearms or of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms, or (C) any person who is a pawnbroker.
According to a 1999 report by the ATF, legal private party transactions contribute to illegal activities, such as arms trafficking
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small a ...
, purchases of firearms by prohibited buyers, and straw purchases. Anyone selling a firearm is legally prohibited from selling it to anyone the seller knows or has reasonable cause to believe is prohibited from owning a firearm. FFL holders, in general, can only transfer firearms to a non-licensed individual if that individual resides in the state where the FFL holder is licensed to do business, and only at that place of business or a gun show in their state.[
The January 1999 report said that more than 4,000 gun shows are held in the U.S. annually.] Also, between 50 and 75 percent of gun show vendors hold a Federal Firearms License, and the "majority of vendors who attend shows sell firearms, associated accessories, and other paraphernalia." The report concluded that although most sellers at gun shows are upstanding people, a few corrupt sellers could move a large quantity of firearms into high-risk hands. They stated that there were gaps in current law and recommended "extending the Brady Law to 'close the gun show loophole.'"[
In 2009 the U.S. ]Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
published a report citing that many firearms trafficked to
Mexico may be purchased through these types of private transactions, by individuals who may want to avoid background checks and records of their firearms purchases.
Proposals put forth by United States Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
s, which were never enacted, include:
* Allowing only FFL holders to sell guns at gun shows, so a background check and a firearms transaction record accompany every transaction
* Strengthening the definition of "engaged in the business" by defining the terms with more precision, narrowing the exception for "hobbyists," and lowering the intent requirement
* Limiting the number of individual private sales to a specified number per year
* Requiring persons who sell guns in the secondary market to comply with the record-keeping requirements applicable to Federal Firearms License holders
* Requiring all transfers in the secondary market to go through a Federal Firearms License holder
* Establishing procedures for the orderly liquidation of inventory belonging to FFL holders who surrender their license
* Requiring registration of non-licensed persons who sell guns
* Increasing the punishment for transferring a firearm without a background check, as required by the Brady Act
* Requiring gun show promoters to be licensed, maintaining an inventory of all the firearms that are sold by FFL holders and non-licensed sellers at gun shows
* Requiring one or more ATF agents be present at every gun show
* Insulating unlicensed vendors from criminal liability if they agree to have purchasers complete a firearms transaction form
Executive branch
On November 6, 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
issued a memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
and the Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
expressing concern about sellers at gun shows not being required to run background checks on potential buyers. He called this absence a "loophole" and said that it made gun shows prime targets for criminals and gun traffickers. He requested recommendations on what actions the administration should take, including legislation.
During his campaign and presidency, President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
endorsed the idea of background checks at gun shows. Bush's position was that the gun show loophole should be closed by federal legislation since the gun show loophole was created by previous federal legislation. President Bush ordered an investigation by the U.S. Departments of Health, Education, and Justice in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings in order to make recommendations on ways the federal government can prevent such tragedies. On January 8, 2008 he signed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007
The NICS Improvement Amendments Act () was passed in 2007 in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings in order to address loopholes in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, commonly known as NICS, which enabled Seung-Hui Cho to bu ...
(NIAA) into law. Goals and objectives that the NIAA sought to address included: The gap in information available to NICS about such prohibiting mental health adjudications and commitments. Filling these information gaps will better enable the system to operate as intended, to keep guns out of the hands of persons prohibited by federal or state law from receiving or possessing firearms.
At the beginning of 2013, President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
outlined proposals regarding new gun control legislation asking Congress to close the gun show loophole by requiring background checks for all firearm sales. Closing the gun show loophole became part of a larger push for universal background checks to close "federal loopholes on such checks at gun shows and other private sales."
After the 2019 Dayton shooting
On August 4, 2019, 24-year-old Connor Betts shot and killed nine people, including his transgender brother, and wounded 17 others near the entrance of the Ned Peppers Bar in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio. Betts was fatally shot by respon ...
and 2019 El Paso shooting
On August 3, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, United States. In the terrorist attack, a far-right individual killed 23 people and injured 23 others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the sh ...
President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
expressed an interest in tighter background checks for gun purchases. He later tweeted...
In the wake of the March 2021 Boulder shooting
On March 22, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Ten people were killed, including a local on-duty police officer. The alleged shooter, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, was arres ...
President Joe Biden said at a press conference that the US Senate should pass legislation, namely H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446, to close loopholes in background checks required for purchasing firearms. In April 2021, the District Attorney for Boulder, CO. concluded the defendant had passed a background check and legally purchased weapons and ammo six days prior to the attack. Possession of high-capacity magazines, such as the ones found in the defendant's car, were banned in Colorado after 2013, in response to previous mass shootings. By December 2021, a judge in the case declared the accused as mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered them to receive treatment at a state mental hospital.
Notable opinions
In 1996, the Violence Policy Center
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control.
Organizational background
According to Josh Sugarmann, its founder, the VPC approaches violence, and firearms violence in particular, as a ...
(VPC) released ''Gun Shows in America: Tupperware® Parties for Criminals'', a study that identified problems associated with gun shows. The VPC study documented the effect of the 1986 Firearms Owners' Protection Act in regard to proliferation of gun shows, which resulted in "a readily available source of weapons and ammunition for a wide variety of criminals, as well as Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third o ...
and David Koresh
David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Sev ...
". According to the VPC, the utility of gun shows to dangerous individuals stems primarily from the exemption enjoyed by private sellers from the sales criteria of the Brady law as well as the absence of a background check. The director of the program which is located at the UC Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
, Garen J. Wintemute, wrote, "There is no such loophole in federal law, in the limited sense that the law does not exempt private-party sales at gun shows from regulation that is required elsewhere." Wintemute said, The fundamental flaw in the gun show loophole proposal is its failure to address the great majority of private-party sales, which occur at other locations and increasingly over the Internet at sites where any non-prohibited person can list firearms for sale and buyers can search for private-party sellers.
On May 27, 1999 Wayne LaPierre
Wayne Robert LaPierre Jr. (born November 8, 1949) is an American gun rights lobbyist who is CEO and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a position he has held since 1991.
Personal background
Wayne Robert LaPierre ...
, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
(NRA), testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, saying: "We think it is reasonable to provide mandatory, instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone." LaPierre has since said that he is opposed to universal background checks
Proposals for universal background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), closing what is sometimes called the priv ...
.
In 1999, Dave Kopel
David B. Kopel (born January 7, 1960) is an American author, attorney, gun rights advocate, and contributing editor to several publications.
As of August 2021, he is research director of the Independence Institute, associate policy analyst at ...
, attorney and gun rights advocate for the NRA, said: "gun shows are no 'loophole' in the federal laws," and that singling out gun shows was "the first step toward abolishing all privacy regarding firearms and implementing universal gun registration." In January 2000, Kopel said that no proposed federal law would have made any difference at Columbine since the adults who supplied the weapons were legal purchasers.
In 2009, Nicholas J. Johnson of the Fordham University School of Law
Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...
, wrote:
Criticisms of the "gun show loophole" imply that federal regulations allow otherwise prohibited retail purchases ("primary market sales") of firearms at gun shows. This implication is false. The real criticism is leveled at secondary market sales by private citizens.
In 2010, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Brady: United Against Gun Violence (formerly “Handgun Control, Inc”., the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and against ...
said: "Because of the gun show loophole, in most states prohibited buyers can walk into any gun show and buy weapons from unlicensed sellers with no background check. Many of these gun sellers operate week-to-week with no established place of business, traveling from gun show to gun show."
In 2013, the NRA said that a universal background check system for gun buyers is both impracticable and unnecessary, but an effective instant check system that includes records of persons adjudicated mentally ill would prevent potentially dangerous people from getting their hands on firearms. The group argues that only 10 percent of firearms are purchased via private sellers. They also dispute the idea that the current law amounts to a gun-show loophole, pointing out that many of the people selling at gun shows are federally licensed dealers. The group has stated in the past that: gun control supporters' objectives are to reduce gun sales and register guns, and that there is no "loophole," but legal commerce under the status quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
(like book fairs or car shows).
In 2016, a study published in ''The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' reported that state laws only requiring background checks or permits for gun sales at gun shows were associated with higher rates of gun-related deaths. The same study also found that state laws that required background checks for all gun sales were strongly associated with lower rates of gun-related deaths. Also that year Gabriel J. Chin
Gabriel Jack Chin is an author, legal scholar, and Professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law.
He teaches a variety of courses, including Criminal Law, Immigration, Criminal Appellate Advocacy, and Race and Law.
In the news ...
, professor at UC Davis School of Law
The University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King Jr. Hall), referred to as UC Davis School of Law and commonly known as King Hall, is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school rec ...
, stated that since there are no clear stipulations for the number of firearms sold before someone is required to be federally licensed and that since gun shows are usually held on weekends, "there is room for someone to claim 'this is a hobby or part of my collection' when it is also a substantial business."
Closing the gun show loophole through universal background checks enjoys high levels of public support.
In 2016, PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...
published an article in which several experts stated that the phrase "gun show loophole" isn't the most accurate way to describe the law.
State-level pro-gun lobbies oppose the framing of the issue, claiming that gun control schemes such as closing the gun show loophole, "criminalizes the right to buy and sell lawful private property. Numerous studies and analyses indicate that there is no such thing as a 'gun show loophole.' It's merely slick marketing to scare people into supporting an assault on private property, gun owners and gun ownership." In 2021, Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc., a Second Amendment lobbying organization, opposed a ban on Wisconsin gun shows it argued was unjustified by statistics or research and amounted to discrimination against gun owners.
Contributing events
After the Columbine High School massacre
On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
on April 20, 1999, gun shows and background checks became a focus of national debate in the United States, despite the fact that the shooters had not attended a gun show and had instead obtained them from a friend who had purchased the guns legally. Weeks after the Columbine shooting, Frank Lautenberg
Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was orig ...
introduced a proposal to close the gun show loophole in federal law. It was passed in the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, but did not pass in the House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
.
The Virginia Tech shooting
The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an u ...
on April 16, 2007 again brought discussion of the gun show loophole to the forefront of U.S. politics, even though the shooter passed a background check and purchased his weapons legally at a Virginia gun shop via a Wisconsin-based Internet dealer. Previously, in December 2005, a Virginia judge had directed the Virginia Tech gunman to undergo outpatient treatment, but because he was treated as an outpatient, Virginia did not send his name to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is a background check system in the United States created by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Law) of 1993 to prevent firearm sales to people prohibited under the Act. ...
(NICS). On April 30, 2007, Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...
, the Governor of Virginia, issued an executive order intended to prohibit the sale of guns to anyone found to be dangerous and forced to undergo involuntary mental health treatment. He called on lawmakers to close the gun show loophole. A bill to close the gun show loophole in Virginia was submitted, but eventually failed. Since then, Virginia lawmakers' efforts to close the gun show loophole were continuously blocked by gun rights advocates. The Governor wrote:
After the July 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting
On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, United States, during a midnight screening of the film ''The Dark Knight Rises''. Dressed in tactical clothing, James Holmes set off tear gas g ...
in Colorado, the October 2012 Azana Spa shooting
On October 21, 2012, a shooting occurred at the Azana Spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Four people, including the shooter by suicide, died in the incident; four others were injured. The shooter was identified as 45-year-old R ...
in Wisconsin, and the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...
in Connecticut, state and local debates regarding the gun show loophole resumed. After the Aurora shooting, then president of the NRA
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
, David Keene, said that such tragedies are often exploited by the media and politicians. He said, "Colorado has already closed the so-called 'loophole' and the killer didn't buy his guns at a gun show." The handgun in the Azana Spa shooting was purchased legally in a private transaction, not at a gun show. The Sandy Hook shooter used weapons legally purchased and owned by his mother.
See also
* Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2009
The Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2009 and Gun Show Background Check Act of 2009 (, ) were pending pieces of legislation in the United States 111th Congress intended to change record keeping and background check requirements for sales of firear ...
* John Lott
John Richard Lott Jr. (born May 8, 1958) is an American economist, political commentator, and gun rights advocate. Lott was formerly employed at various academic institutions and at the American Enterprise Institute conservative think tank. He ...
* Universal background check
Proposals for universal background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), closing what is sometimes called the privat ...
Notes
References
Further reading
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* - Patrick, a professor of communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
at the University of Toledo
The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...
, thinks "gun show loophole" is a euphemistic label for legislative proposals as part of an "overall disarmament goal."
{{Gun control in the United States
Gun politics in the United States
United States federal firearms legislation