One of the things gun control advocates have been pushing for is universal background checks. They claim these measures are incredibly popular, despite most people not really understanding what all such checks entail.

Passing one has been a major part of what the Biden administration has wanted since taking office.

And, thanks to some language in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, he and his anti-gun allies are set to get what they want.

Even CNN acknowledges what’s coming.

President Joe Biden’s campaign is preparing to make gun safety a central issue of his reelection campaign, and that will start with the official approval soon and big rollout of a new executive action to massively expand background checks for gun purchases, multiple aides involved tell CNN.

Long sought by gun safety advocates, the executive action, which Biden set in motion in March, would expand the definition of which gun sellers are required to comply with federal licensing and background check requirements. It is seen by both proponents and opponents as the most that can be done toward establishing universal background checks without new legislation. While it may be approved soon, White House aides are already planning a larger event to officially announce it with the president going into the fall, with more campaign-related events centered on guns likely as well.

The new definition is basically anyone who makes a profit selling guns is categorized as a dealer.

The issue here is how “profit” is defined.

For example, let’s say I buy a gun today for $400.  A year or two later, the going rate for that gun is $500 due to inflation–which, let’s face it, has been kind of ugly over the last two years. That’s an increase of $100, but is that a profit?

An argument can be made that if the increase is due to inflation, then no. The question is whether the ATF will see it as a profit, though, not whether economists would.

Even if the ATF figures that inflationary increases aren’t profit, people are still going to run into problems because most people aren’t going to figure out how much of any increase is due to inflation.

So, they’ll just sell through a gun store and likely avoid the hassle.

Yet there are some avenues where this isn’t a true universal background check, and that’s good news. Loaning firearms to a friend or family member, for example, doesn’t constitute making a profit and thus are exempt from any such requirements.

Also, buying a new gun and selling it at a depreciated value later on is still exempt from any such requirement because it’s pretty clear there wasn’t a profit–though, admittedly, with inflation being as stupid as it has been, the depreciated value could theoretically appear higher than the new price, though that’s unlikely to be the case here and now.

Still, this is where we’re at and we’re now staring down the barrel of what might as well be universal background checks.

Every GOP lawmaker who voted for this travesty needs to be held accountable for that vote. They brought this on the gun community and they need to explain themselves.