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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 the fact that a gun dealer could circumvent gun laws by posing as a private seller at a gun show. Since private parties are not required to be licensed to sell their own guns, and are not required to do background checks on buyers, a gun dealer posing as a private seller would in effect be circumventing those requirements. If that person 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 would be a thousand transactions per year. five hundred guns would have gone through that person's hands in one year, without being licensed.
It must be understood that, while it is possible for this to happen, such a person would be commiting a federal crime, severely punished in the United States. Additionally, he could very well be selling guns out of his garage by advertising in the local papers, and this would not be called the "News Paper Loophole". It bears repeating that it is the Gun Dealer that is breaking the law, and not the Gun Show.
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 are no "unlicensed" gun dealers at gun shows.
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