The new rule, which is likely to face legal challenges, is an attempt to regulate a fast-growing shadow market of weapons that has fueled gun violence.
  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppetEnglish
    1•6 months ago

    Decent article, but this part bothers me:

    The gun control bill, one of the administration’s most significant policy achievements, has provided the government with several tools to combat a flood of illegal firearms.

    According to the article, the purpose of the bill is to stop the purchase of firearms by people who can’t pass background checks. Someone illegally purchasing a firearm doesn’t make the firearm itself illegal, it makes the transition illegal. The same firearm could be sold to someone who can pass a background check without issue. An illegal firearm is one that any person can’t legally own, such a 50 caliber machine gun without the proper permits. There’s a major difference between buying an illegal gun, and illegally buying a legal gun.

    Anyways, pendantics aside, background checks seem like a common sense step towards responsible firearms sales. You need to pass a background check to purchase a gun at Big 5. Why wouldn’t you need to pass one to purchase it anywhere else? I was under the impression that if someone sold a gun to another person, they had to go down to an FFL and do a background check before swapping ownership. I know that’s how it works if you buy one from an auction site like guns.com. Have gun shows really always had exclusion from this law?

    • @[email protected]English
      2•6 months ago

      Your impression is incorrect. Under current US law, individuals selling a firearm to another individual within their home state do not currently require an FFL, nor a background check (as long as the seller is not “engaged in the business” of selling firearms and doesn’t have reason to believe the buyer is a prohibited person.)

      It is not an exclusion and it has nothing to do with gun shows, per se. The requirement for a background check only applies to FFL (federal firearms license) holders and the FFL is only required for dealers.

      So, for example, setting up a table at a flea market for the purposes of selling guns for a profit already requires an FFL (as well as a form 4473 and NICS check.) Meeting someone at a flea market to sell them a firearm generally does not require an FFL.

      Note that you could replace “flea market” here with “gas station”, “parking lot” or “gun show” and it doesn’t change the law.

      What the Biden administration is doing here is tightening the rule to clarify what constitutes “regularly engaged in the business of selling firearms”, and therefore when an FFL (and background check) is required.