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The term “gun-show loophole” was created by those opposed to private commerce in firearms to describe the sale of firearms between private individuals at gun shows in states where such sales are legal.
A few states do require all gun sales at gun shows to go through licensed dealers, but most states do not. Private sales of guns (outside of gun shows) are legal in every state, just as it is perfectly legal to sell one’s car or house to another person without going through a dealer or agent. Gun shows are subject to all gun laws without exception. There is no loophole that allows any gun laws to be circumvented at gun shows.
Gun shows are typically held in public buildings, including hotels, malls, armories or stadiums and are open to the public with modest fees charged for admittance. A large proportion of exhibitors, typically, do not sell guns or ammo at all but, instead, sell accessories such as scopes, holsters and pocketknives.
It doesn’t end there. Vendors at gun stores also sell books, magazines, war memorabilia and even beef jerky. Yes, guns are sold and traded at gun shows but mostly by federally licensed dealers that must do Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives background checks on every customer. Only a very small number of tables are rented by individual gun collectors who are not required to be federally licensed.
There is nothing illegal or wrong with law-abiding citizens selling personally owned firearms to other law-abiding citizens. It is perfectly legal, for instance, to sell a gun to a neighbor or a shooting buddy. It is also perfectly legal to sell – or to give – a gun to a law-abiding family member. My first gun was a gift from my father when I was 12 years old, and I still have it.
We all agree that reducing violent gun crime is beneficial, but there is great disagreement on how to do so. Currently, there are as many as 20,000 gun laws, including all federal, state, municipal, local and administrative laws. There is no shortage of gun laws. Enforcement is the issue. Police arrests and concerted efforts by law enforcement agencies, by far, have the greatest positive impact on reducing violent crime.
Many media stories give the impression that gun shows are where criminals prefer to get guns. Turns out, gun shows come in last.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, almost 80 percent of guns used by criminals are obtained by street/illegal sources or friends or family. Only 8.3 percent are from retail stores, and a measly 0.7 percent from gun shows.
Certainly, 0.7 percent is much ado about not much. There is a reason why criminals tend to stay away from gun shows: the police. Most gun shows have uniformed police officers at the entrances and exits checking people as they come in and leave, and undercover law enforcement officers (federal, state and local) are often there, too. Crooks don’t like those odds, so they stay away from gun shows.
The so-called gun-show loophole makes it sound as if gun shows are where criminals go to bypass laws that apply outside of gun shows. That is false – twice. First of all, criminals tend to avoid gun shows, and, second, gun shows are not exempt from any gun laws at all. There really is no loophole.
We should concentrate our efforts on reducing violent gun crime where those efforts will have the most effect, and requiring all gun sales at gun shows to go through licensed dealers has little effect, if any.
