One of the big pushes for gun control groups is universal background checks. They want them, and while many states already have them, they want them at the federal level. Proponents claim it'll stop criminals from getting guns, and thus, we need it throughout the nation.
That's naively optimistic.
Universal background checks require all gun sales to go through an FFL so a background check can be performed. I get that there's an effort to try and do it so there's no paperwork and no trip to the gun store, but I'm skeptical of that ever coming into fruition, much less being the accepted, lawful norm.
Even if it were, I'd still have a problem with universal background checks.
Regardless, the laws require background checks, but there's almost no way to tell if one was performed. The only way to catch someone skipping it is to bust them like this guy was busted.
A 21-year-old Albany (NY) man admitted to selling guns to New York State Police, according to the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.
Isaiah Foy pleaded guilty to First Degree Attempted Criminal Sale of a Firearm on Wednesday, March 18. He was arraigned in January on a 12-count indictment, including charges of Criminal Sale of a Firearm and Criminal Possession of a Weapon.
New York State Police investigated Foy in 2025, revealing he sold eight firearms to undercover officers from Oct. 1 to Dec. 14. A search warrant led to his arrest on Jan. 15 at his Alexander Street apartment, where police found a loaded AR-15.
Now, Foy was targeted and investigated by the New York State Police, likely because someone told them he was selling guns illegally. That means he sold at least a few guns before he popped up on the police's radar. During the time he was selling guns to undercover officers, he may well have been selling guns to others, all before he was arrested.
So this one guy could have sold hundreds of guns before he was caught. Yes, he was caught, but now the question is how many others are still running around, filling the void?
See, what we have to understand is that for every person caught selling something illegal, there are a whole lot more who are slipping under that radar. Maybe the cops know it and just can't do anything about it because "knowing" and "proving" are very different things, and even reaching the probable cause level isn't as simple as "we know he's doing it, we just have to prove it."
These are generally the same people who sold guns illegally before the universal background checks were the law, too. They're black market dealers, and they were arrestable before the law was in place in most cases.
With the black market still going strong, then what does a universal background check law actually do? Well, it creates a paper trail for lawful gun purchases, all of which become a kind of de facto gun registration. They won't call it that, but if there's a document for every lawful owner of a firearm throughout its existence, including the current owner, then what else would you call it?
Even if that's not the goal--which I don't buy for a second--the truth is that universal background checks were always a stupid way to try to stop illicit sales of firearms.
Yeah, this guy got caught and convicted. He's one of a hundred, most likely, throughout Albany, New York. Everything he can't buy and sell now will be bought and sold by someone else.
Meanwhile, there are people in New York who are looking to sell their shotgun who have to jump through a thousand hoops just to sell it to their neighbor of 30 years, someone they've known since elementary school.
