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Revision as of 14:45, 1 November 2006 by 70.185.7.23 (talk) (→General Arguement)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Gun show loophole is a term of art used by anti-gun rights organizations, such as Handgun Control, Inc. when referring to the private sale by private individuals of their personal weapons at Gun shows.
Definitions
In order to better understand this issue, the following definitions should be helpful.
Gun show
- main article: Gun show
- A gun show is a form of exhibition or gathering where guns, gun parts and literature, as well as knives and miscellaneous collectables are displayed, bought, sold (subject to regulations) and discussed. Other items, such as clothing or hunting gear, may also be displayed and sold.
- Dealer
- A dealer is someone who makes a living by selling items of a certain class. Someone in the business of selling cars, for example, is a Car dealer.
- Unlicensed Dealer
- Someone in the business of selling items for which no license is required. For example, someone selling outdoor wear at a gun show, would not be required to have a license.
- Licensed Dealer
- By Federal law, anyone engaged in the business of selling weapons must bear a federal license to do so.
- Private party
- A person who does not normally make a living by selling weapons. Under Federal law, there is no requirement for private parties selling their own private firearm, to obtain a license to do so.
General Argument
The Gun Show Loophole refers to a way someone could, argueably legally, be a gun dealer without having to go through the licensing process or many other gun control laws. One could set up a stand at a gun show and act as a private party selling and buying their own personal firearms in personal transactions, which would be largly untouched by gun control legislation such as registration and background checks. While this may be fine if the seller was a collector buying, selling, or trading a few pieces in their collection once in a while, but where do you draw the line? If one was to attend a gun show every week on average, and make 20 transactions (10 buys and 10 sales) per gun show on average, that's over a thousand transactions per year. Over 500 guns would have gone through that person's hands in one year. If that person ended up profiting on those sales, they begins to look much more like a gun dealer than a private citizen buying or selling some personal firearms.
A Rebuttal
When anti-gun rights groups such as Handgun Control, Inc. talk of the "Gun show loophole", they are referring to the fact that private parties can take their own personal weapons to a gun show, and sell them there, as opposed to selling them at their house.
When anti-gun rights groups mention the fact that there are many "unlicensed dealers" at gun shows, they are referring of course to dealers selling items other than guns. As mentioned in the definitions section, someone selling t-shirts at a gun show would not be required to have a license. It would be a federal crime to sell guns as a business without a license. Since the organizers of the show would be ultimately responsible for such a crime, there is no "unlicensed" gun dealers at gun shows.
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