The Gun Show Loophole
What is the Gun Show Loophole?
There are two types of gun sales in the U.S. – licensed, regulated sales, and private, unregulated sales.
Responsibilities of Licensed Sellers: Dealers engaged in the business of selling guns must have a federal firearms license (FFL) and they must run the names of buyers through the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) to make sure that the person is not a convicted felon, domestic violence offender, mentally unstable, or other another type of prohibited purchaser. FFLs must keep records so that if the gun is later found at a crime scene, law enforcement can trace it to the buyer.
Responsibilities of Private Sellers: People who say they are hobbyists or collectors and claim to make only occasional sales can sell firearms without a license. Unlike licensed sellers, federal law does not require these private sellers to conduct background checks on buyers or retain sales records.
The Problem: “Gun Show Loophole” refers to the fact that current federal law allows private sellers to sell firearms without conducting background checks or keeping sales records. This loophole gives criminals and gun traffickers an easy source of guns. While private sellers are exempted from running background checks no matter where they make the sale, this loophole is associated with gun shows because they are the largest and most central marketplace where these private sellers can easily connect with purchasers who wish to avoid detection.
Key Facts About the Gun Show Loophole:
Who Supports Closing the Gun Show Loophole?
1- U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Following the Gun: Enforcing Federal Law Against Firearms Traffickers (2000)
2- www.GunShowUndercover.org
3- The Movement of Illegal Guns in America, Mayors Against Illegal Guns Report, December 2008, http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/trace/analysis.shtml
4- 2008 Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Poll
5- December 2009 poll by Republican pollster Frank Luntz. Download PDF
There are two types of gun sales in the U.S. – licensed, regulated sales, and private, unregulated sales.
Responsibilities of Licensed Sellers: Dealers engaged in the business of selling guns must have a federal firearms license (FFL) and they must run the names of buyers through the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) to make sure that the person is not a convicted felon, domestic violence offender, mentally unstable, or other another type of prohibited purchaser. FFLs must keep records so that if the gun is later found at a crime scene, law enforcement can trace it to the buyer.
Responsibilities of Private Sellers: People who say they are hobbyists or collectors and claim to make only occasional sales can sell firearms without a license. Unlike licensed sellers, federal law does not require these private sellers to conduct background checks on buyers or retain sales records.
The Problem: “Gun Show Loophole” refers to the fact that current federal law allows private sellers to sell firearms without conducting background checks or keeping sales records. This loophole gives criminals and gun traffickers an easy source of guns. While private sellers are exempted from running background checks no matter where they make the sale, this loophole is associated with gun shows because they are the largest and most central marketplace where these private sellers can easily connect with purchasers who wish to avoid detection.
Key Facts About the Gun Show Loophole:
- According to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), 30% of illegally trafficked guns are connected to gun shows. 1
- An undercover investigation of private sellers at gun shows found that 63% of private sellers broke the law by selling to people who they thought could not pass a background check. 2
- States that have not closed the Gun Show Loophole export guns involved in interstate trafficking at twice the rate of states that require background checks by private sellers at gun shows. 3
Who Supports Closing the Gun Show Loophole?
- The Public: 87% of Americans support closing the Gun Show Loophole.4
- Gun Owners and NRA Members: 85% of gun owners and 69% of National Rifle Association (NRA) members agree with closing the Gun Show Loophole.5
- Mayors Against Illegal Guns: More than 500 members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns have called on Congress to close the Gun Show Loophole. Read the coalition’s letter to Congress.
1- U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Following the Gun: Enforcing Federal Law Against Firearms Traffickers (2000)
2- www.GunShowUndercover.org
3- The Movement of Illegal Guns in America, Mayors Against Illegal Guns Report, December 2008, http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/trace/analysis.shtml
4- 2008 Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Poll
5- December 2009 poll by Republican pollster Frank Luntz. Download PDF
