Gun Shows

Why are gun shows controversial?

Gun shows are controversial because they still have some elements of freedom and that drives some of the control freaks crazy and they want to stop it and they talk about the Gun show loophole. Well, loophole is a word that is easier to understand if you think about when a politician talks about a tax loophole, he's talking about taking more of your money. When a politician talks about a Gun loophole, he's talking about taking away some more of your freedom. And so the gun show loophole is simply people who are able to buy at a gun show the way they buy a Gun from their father or their neighbor at home, in other words without any government involvement. But they can only do that at the Gun show if the person selling the gun is not a federally licensed firearms dealer and there are overwhelming number of people selling guns at gun shows are federally licensed firearms dealers and so they're going to have the same ground check and the same useless and needless and burdensome paperwork filled out on them as if they bought it in a store on main street.

Why do some sellers have to conduct a background check while others do not?

All sellers who are federally licensed fire arms dealers must, and if they are in the business of selling guns they must have a federal license to do that.

How do gun show sellers prevent selling to convicted felons?

Gun shows don't sell to people with felony convictions because the dealers at the shows have to do a background check. But the person with the felony convictions, if he's a criminal he's going to go get a gun anyway. The British experience has abundantly shown that criminals are not deterred, even if they're on an island with a gun ban.

Is there a black market for guns?

Black market is actually a free market but yes, there's a black market. In Washington, DC, you won't find it in a phone book. In fact, I was talking to a DC cop not long ago. I said, “Several years ago I read in the Washington Post about rent-a-gun. I'll bet that's still in existence, isn't it?” He said, “Absolutely!” Rent-a-gun is not in the yellow pages or the white pages but if you want to get a gun on the streets of Washington just say, “Hey where can I get a gun?” You will get a gun probably faster than I would be able to buy one in a store in Virginia.