‘Historic’ action by justice department closes ‘doggone dangerous’ loophole in Biden administration’s fight against gun violence

‘Historic’ action by justice department closes ‘doggone dangerous’ loophole in Biden administration’s fight against gun violence

The sale of firearms on the internet and at gun shows in the US will in future be subject to mandatory background checks, the justice department said on Thursday as it announced a “historic” new action to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals.

The closing of the so-called gun show loophole, which exempts private transactions from restrictions that apply to licensed dealers, has long been a goal of the Biden administration, and is specifically targeted in the rule published in the federal register today.

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The White House estimates that 22% of guns owned by Americans were acquired without a background check and that about 23,000 more individuals will be required to be licensed as a dealer after the rule’s implementation.

  • Flying Squid
    0•9 months ago

    In every year since 2018, there have been more than one million ads offering firearms for sale by unlicensed sellers in states that do not legally require a background check, a circumstance that creates endless opportunities for individuals with dangerous histories to easily acquire guns. Federal law requires a background check of a prospective gun buyer only when the seller is a licensed gun dealer, leaving all other sales—such as unlicensed gun sales negotiated over the internet—unregulated and with no background check required.

    For more than a decade, the online firearm marketplace has emerged as a growing market for anonymous gun purchases through websites such as Armslist, the self-proclaimed “largest free gun classifieds on the web.” Everytown has worked to understand the scope and threat of this type of commerce. This report lays out the results of Everytown’s analysis of Armslist ads between 2018 and 2020, and the findings of our prior investigations examining the criminal backgrounds of buyers, how transactions are carried out, and whether unlicensed sellers would require a background check on a private gun sale.

    https://everytownresearch.org/report/unchecked-an-investigation-of-the-online-firearm-marketplace/

    • @FireTower
      7•9 months ago

      Those kind of transfers aren’t online sales but face to face sales facilitated by a post. None of the actual transaction is online.

      In an online sale a buyer pays a seller through e-commerce then the seller mails the firearms to an FFL near the buyer where they go and pick it up after a background check.

      That source seems to unintentionally conflate the former with the latter.

    • @shalafiEnglish
      6•9 months ago

      states that do not legally require a background check

      Bald faced lie, not even going to read the rest. Background checks are federally required. States can impose additional restrictions, but they cannot bypass this. It would be a Bulgarian cluster fuck if they did. They do not.

      • Flying Squid
        0•9 months ago

        If you had read the rest, you would have seen that is literally mentioned in the next sentence of what I quoted…