I'm used to people trying to pretend that what we see in the law and in executive orders isn't really what we're looking at. They try to pretend a measure will do more than it will or that it'll have less of an impact on our rights; pretty much whatever they think will get it the most support.
But when the whole "engaged in the business" rule was redefined as simply selling a gun for profit--and that wasn't defined--it muddied the waters. It seems, though, that at least some anti-gunners see it pretty much the same way we do.
That's right. They see it as universal background checks. The difference is that they love it.
For many years, the single gun-control measure that the vast majority of Americans have agreed upon is universal background checks. This is sometimes referred to as “closing the gun show loophole,” preventing “private sellers” from selling firearms without performing a required background check for purchasers at these events.
What most Americans are not aware of is that for almost a year now, thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed in 2022, “private sellers” are now required to get a Federal Firearms License and to conduct background checks if they meet federal criteria for being in the business of selling firearms. What this means is that prohibited buyers — felons, domestic abusers, straw purchasers, traffickers and those with mental issues — will no longer have easy access to weapons sold by so-called “private sellers” at gun shows, swap meets, and online. What it ultimately means for all of us is a safer country, which the vast majority of Americans support.
No, they don't necessarily. The pols that suggest they do have some very specific wording that could easily be misinterpreted to mean something else entirely.
Further, "private sellers" isn't how any of this is defined. These are people who simply sell a gun and make money on the transaction, but that isn't going to have the impact on criminals getting guns that is being presented here.
First, I've been to a lot of gun shows in my time, and there really aren't booth after booth of these "private sellers" selling guns in a way to bypass the NICS background check requirement. Those happen, but they really are just people selling off parts or most of their collections for various reasons. They're not super common, though.
What private sales that transpire at gun shows are typically people who attend the gun show as a consumer, but also bring a gun along to potentially sell it to another attendee.
Yet I find it interesting that the authors, who both clearly support the rule change, acknowledge that this chance is, in fact, universal background checks.
They focus on gun shows, but it's also clear that they really don't know anything about gun sales, gun shows, or anything else dealing with the lawful trade of firearms. In this way, they're no different from any other anti-gunner, really. Most of them have never bought a gun. Most have never attended a gun show. A few have even counted on that to try and "trap" dealers on video, walking into a show or store and pretending they're just buying a gun without any checks.
The videos universally cut off before money changes hands, though, because then people would see the dealer hand over the paperwork to be filled out and a NICS check performed.
What they don't acknowledge, or maybe even know, is that criminals aren't getting their guns at gun shows. That's from ATF data that shows most are buying them from black market dealers or stealing them from law-abiding gun owners.
But hey, why worry about what's really going on when you can just make it more difficult for people to sell their own property instead?
