Friday, December 30, 2011

That Private Sale Loophole
Through Which Semi Trucks
Loaded with Illegally Sold Guns
Often Drive

This is a document from earlier this year, which you can read in its entirety HERE.

It addresses the investigation of the so-called gun show loophole, at - where else - gun shows, aka private sales. 

In response to the oft-repeated whines (you can almost hear the THROB in their voices) from the gun loonz, that they are safe (sort of), that they are law abiding (sort of), that they make good decisions about their guns, and 'why don't we trust FREE MEN? WHY, why why?"  the answer is in every page of this report.

I would comfortably assert that the overwhelming majority of the people attending the gun shows described in this document share most of the following:
- 2nd Amendment Rights enthusiasts (personal, not militia), including those who believe rights cannot be limited or regulated.

- support the SCOTUS Heller decision, (mostly inaccurately);

- advocate AGAINST any restrictive gun regulation, of any kind, anywhere, by any level of government (local, state, federal, international), and see government as generally  an 'enemy', including denying illegal gun sales occur at gun shows, and particularly resisting checks for private sales;

- are in favor of open and /concealed carry of firearms, pretty much anywhere, anytime, by anyone (or nearly so);

- believe they need a firearm for a likely instance occurring for self-defense, regardless of crime rates, or the reality that the instances they cite are NOT safe for defensive gun fire;


- believe they themselves are law abiding, defined as including ignoring laws with which they don't agree, like those regulating gun sales and gun carry;

- describe themselves as anti-crime even when they knowingly disregard the law;

- describe guns as inanimate objects / tools;

- blame the criminal, never the weapon, never the person who provides the weapon, when a crime occurs.

-  believe inaccurately, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that more guns are the cause for declines in crime rates, and that more guns will hasten that crime decline

-  belong, or have belonged at some point, to the NRA, and/or support the lobbying efforts, policies and positions of the NRA;

-  believe that Obama or someone from his administration will confiscate their firearms at some point in time;  

-  are fanatic about the importance of being able to acquire large capacity ammunition cartridges / clips/ magazines, and obsessive (but inaccurate) about the correct terminology for that item;
- believe machine gun shoots are good events;

- believe they are themselves safe with firearms, even when they demonstrate in various ways that they are not;

- have a mythic or glamorized / fantasized view of firearms, including in the reading material, entertainment (tv, movies), games, etc. they enjoy;
I've excerpted a few pages to give you an idea of the content:

Page 1

Executive Summary
On January 8, 2011, Jared Loughner, a mentally ill
drug abuser wielding a Glock semi-automatic pistol
with a 33-round extended magazine, shot and killed
six people in Tucson, Arizona, wounding thirteen
more, including U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords. Even though the U.S. Army had rejected
Loughner after admitting to a history of drug abuse
during his application to enlist, it failed to share this
information with the FBI, as required by law.1 As
a result, Loughner’s name was never entered into
the National Instant Criminal Background Check
System (NICS), a database used to screen prohibited
purchasers from buying guns. Less than a year later,
Loughner was able to pass a background check and
purchase a shotgun,2 and only one year after that,
Loughner bought the Glock gun that he used in the
Tucson shootings.3
Like the tragedies at Columbine and Virginia Tech,
the Tucson shooting raised questions about the gun
background check system: why did the system fail?
And, what are the major gaps in the background
check system that make it easy for felons, the mentally
ill, drug abusers, and other federally prohibited
persons4 to buy guns?
Just two weeks after the tragic shooting in Tucson,
Arizona, the City of New York sent undercover
investigators to the Crossroads of the West gun show
in Phoenix, Arizona – 120 miles from Tucson and
one of thousands of such shows that occur across the
country every year.
The investigation sought answers to two different
questions:
Question 1: How easy is it to buy a gun
without a background check?
Result:

An undercover investigator bought a
Glock 9-millimeter pistol, similar to the weapon
used by Jared Loughner, from a private seller with-
out a background check. Under current law, this
no-background-check sale is legal assuming the man
making the sale is in fact only an occasional seller.
The investigator also bought three high-capacity
33-round magazines like the one Loughner used.

Question 2: Would private sellers sell
guns to people who said they probably
could not pass a background check?
Result:
An undercover investigator bought two
9-millimeter semi-automatic pistols from two differ-
ent private sellers. In these buys, the investigator told
the sellers “I probably couldn’t pass a background
check.” Both sellers sold the gun despite a federal
law making it illegal to sell a gun to an individual the
seller “knows” or “has reason to believe” is a prohibited
purchaser.

Context: Gun Sales Without
Background Checks

In the United States, federal law prohibits dangerous
people, including criminals, the mentally ill, and drug
abusers from owning guns. In 1993, the FBI estab-
lished the National Instant Check System (NICS),
which contains federal and state records indicating
whether a person is a prohibited purchaser.

page 2

Current federal law recognizes two classes of indi-
viduals who sell firearms: federally licensed gun
dealers who are “engaged in the business” of selling
guns and unlicensed, “private” sellers who make
occasional sales from their personal collections.5
Federal law requires licensed dealers to conduct
background checks of their buyers,6 but private
sellers are exempt from this requirement because it is
presumed that they only sell guns occasionally. This
private sellers’ exemption is often referred to as the
“gun show loophole” because gun shows provide a
central marketplace for prohibited purchasers to con-
nect with private sellers who make anonymous gun
sales. Even though federal law exempts private sales
from background checks, it is a felony for private
sellers to sell a gun to an individual they “know” or
“have reason to believe” is a prohibited purchaser.7
Data suggest that private sales are common. Accord-
ing to some estimates, 40 percent of all gun sales in
the United States take place through private sales.8
Gun Shows Linked to Crime
Gun shows are a unique marketplace that typically
feature both private sellers and federally licensed gun
dealers selling guns side by side. According to federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF), this creates an environment where criminals
can easily and anonymously purchase firearms from
private sellers: “Gun shows leave a major loophole
in the regulation of firearms sales” and “provide a
large market where criminals can shop for firearms
anonymously.”9 However, by ATF’s own account, “it
is difficult to determine the precise extent of crimi-
nal activities at gun shows,”10 in part because private
sales are typically unrecorded, cash transactions.
According to ATF, 27 percent of illegally trafficked
guns are connected to private sellers and 30 percent
are connected to gun shows.11
Gun shows have been linked to mass shootings and
other gun crimes:
COLUMBINE:
All four of the guns used by the teenage shooters
at Columbine High School were bought at gun shows from private sellers.12
To help them buy the guns, the shooters enlisted the help of
Robyn Anderson, an 18-year-old senior. In a state-
ment to the Colorado House Judiciary Committee,
Anderson reported “I wish it would have been more
difficult. I wouldn’t have helped them buy the guns
if I had faced a criminal background check.”13

Trafficking of U.S. guns into Mexico:
According to ATF, increased gun trafficking to
Mexico is caused in part by “a readily accessible
source of firearms and ammunition originating in
mostly the secondary market, such as gun shows,
flea markets, and private sales.”14 The Special
Agent in Charge of ATF’s Phoenix Field Division
testified before Congress in 2009 that “drug traf-
fickers are able to obtain firearms and ammunition
more easily in the U.S., including sources in the
secondary market such as gun shows and flea mar-
kets.”15 As Dennis Burke, the United States Attorney
for Arizona said on January 25, 2011, “Mexican
drug lords go shopping for weapons in Arizona.”16

Terrorism: In 2001, Ali Boumelhem was
caught attempting to ship to Hezbollah guns,
ammunition, flash suppressors, and other material
that he and his brother Mohamed had bought at
Michigan gun shows.17 Other investigations have
linked gun shows to potential terrorists in Florida
and Texas.18

Street crime: For example, one investigation
of illegal sales at gun shows and flea markets in
Alabama led to charges against 13 people who
ATF estimated had trafficked 70,000 firearms over
the past several decades.19 Hundreds of these guns
were connected to homicides, robberies, assaults,
and drug and sex crimes, including one that was
used in the attempted murder of a Chicago police
officer.20


Page 3
The Undercover Investigation
New York City’s investigation documented gun sales
at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the
Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix on January 22
- 23, 2011. The City organized a team of undercover
investigators, most of whom have prior law enforce-
ment experience. Investigators used sophisticated
video and audio recording devices. Cameras were
concealed and had lenses no larger than the tip of a
ballpoint pen. On Saturday, January 22, investiga-
tors observed sellers, and purchases were made on
Sunday, January 23.
The Arizona investigation sought answers to two
questions:
Question 1: How easy is it to buy a gun
without a background check?

To answer this first question, an investigator approached
a private handgun seller and after a couple of min-
utes of conversation purchased a Glock 9-millimeter
without a background check.  The only identification
the seller needed to complete the sale was the
investigator’s Arizona driver’s license. Under current
federal law, this no-background-check sale is legal,
assuming the person selling the gun was making only
occasional gun sales. This gun is similar to the Glock
used by Jared Loughner. The undercover investiga-
tor also bought three high-capacity, 33-round maga-
zines like the ones Loughner used.
Question 2: Would private sellers sell
guns to buyers who said they probably
could not pass a background check?

To answer this second question, an investigator
conducted “integrity tests.” He purchased two
9-millimeter semi-automatic pistols from two differ-
ent private sellers. In both cases, before the transac-
tion was completed, he told the seller he “probably
couldn’t pass” a background check. Both sellers sold
the gun despite a federal law making it illegal to sell
a gun to an individual the seller “knows” or “has
reason to believe” is a prohibited purchaser.
(this section is followed by photos of guns purchased without background checks,  where buyer indicated that they could not pass a background check, sales included ammunition, regular magazines and extended magazine)

Failing The Private Seller Integrity Test
It is a federal felony for anyone to sell a gun to someone they “know” or “have reason to believe” is a
prohibited purchaser. Below are excerpts from the transcript of an illegal sale involving a private seller
at a gun show in Phoenix, Arizona on January 23, 2011. The investigator bought a Sig Sauer Sig Pro
2009 9mm for $500.


(photos and transcript )


page 4  (partial excerpt)

The integrity tests in Arizona were similar to the
City’s 2009 investigation conducted at seven gun
shows in Nevada, Tennessee, and Ohio. In October
2009, the City of New York announced the results of
that investigation: 19 of 30 gun sellers approached by
investigators – 63 percent – violated federal law by
selling guns to an investigator who said he “probably
couldn’t pass a background check.”21

The background check system itself is also under-
mined by a lack of resources and action in Wash-
ington. In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting,
where the shooter should have failed a gun back-
ground check but didn’t because his mental health
records were never forwarded to the background
check system, Congress passed the NICS Improvement
Amendments Act. Since then, Congress has only ap-
propriated 5.3 percent of what it said was necessary
to get all of the records in the system. In addition,
many federal agencies have submitted zero records to
the system.

(and)

Enforcing existing gun laws will only go so far as long
as a loophole exists that enables criminals and other
dangerous people to buy guns without background
checks. Congress should change the law to require
a background check for every gun sale.27 State laws
requiring background checks for every handgun sold
at a gun show are associated with reduced interstate
gun trafficking. The 16 states and the District of
Columbia that require background checks for all
handgun sales at gun shows have a crime gun export
rate that is more than 60% lower than states that do
not (7.5 crime guns per 100,000 inhabitants versus
19.8 crime guns).28

15 comments:

  1. - support the SCOTUS Heller decision, (mostly inaccurately);

    That just about says it all.

    And then they ice the cake with the rest of the characteristics of gun loons.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eliminate the hyperbole from your description of gun show attendees, and yes, that's who I am. I'm not anti-government, nor am I paranoid about the Obama administration. I also would differ with some of your other points, but on the whole, you've described me. What you can't grasp is that those of us who fit your description (more or less) don't see that as a problem. We aren't Jared Loughner, and we aren't the boys who shot up the school in Columbine, and your description doesn't make us that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Large capacity ammunition cartridges? What are those? Is it a measure of case volume? More internal case volume is good, because it reduces peak pressure during firing. Who could argue against that?

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  4. GC writes:We aren't Jared Loughner, and we aren't the boys who shot up the school in Columbine, and your description doesn't make us that.

    no, the description doesn't make you that.

    It makes you the people who enable the boys who shot up Columbine to get the guns.

    It makes you the people who prevent reasonable law enforcement of effective gun laws which would drastically reduce the number of guns used in street crime.

    It makes you the people who contribute to making it so very easy for all those tens of thousands of guns to go to Mexico where they are used to kill people wholesale.

    It makes it clear why we don't trust you, and why we are not going to 'give up something' to change this ludicrous situation where people like you are anything bus safe OR law abiding.

    You may not break the laws directly, but you aid and abet them being broken; you aid and abet criminals getting guns.

    You aid and abet every one of the mass shootings, the individual shootings, the gun violence, directly and indirectly, by your worship of fetish weapons.

    ReplyDelete
  5. If it was the intent of the lawmakers to specifically exempt private sales from background checks, how is it a loophole?

    Do you even know what "loophole" means?

    ReplyDelete
  6. "I would comfortably assert that the overwhelming majority of the people attending the gun shows described in this document share most of the following:"

    You would comfortably assert anything that makes you feel good about your cause without checking facts.

    "On January 8, 2011, Ja*** Lo****** (he doesn't deserve to have his name in print), a mentally ill
    drug abuser....."

    If U.S. Army and others failed to do their part, how can NICS work? JL had nothing to do with private sales or loopholes. Seems more like he fell through a crack. JL is only mentioned to tug at the emotions of the reader.

    "the investigator told
    the sellers “I probably couldn’t pass a background
    check.” Both sellers sold the gun despite a federal
    law making it illegal to sell a gun"

    criminals are gonna do what criminals do.

    "This private sellers’ exemption is often referred to as the “gun show loophole” "

    It's not so much a loophole, but the way the law was written. On a side note, I understand Bloomberg now refers to it as the "terrorist loophole"

    "COLUMBINE:
    Anderson reported “I wish it would have been more difficult. I wouldn’t have helped them buy the guns if I had faced a criminal background check.”"
    Certainly, don't take responsibility for your own actions.

    "Trafficking of U.S. guns into Mexico:
    According to ATF, increased gun trafficking to Mexico is caused in part by "

    Operation Fast and Furious

    "As Dennis Burke,(an un-indicted co-conspirator in the trafficking of arms to Mexico) the United States Attorney for Arizona said on January 25, 2011,"

    January 25: a month and a half after Agent Brian Terry was gunned down with weapons allowed to walk to Mexico by Dennis Burke and his cohorts.

    "Enforcing existing gun laws will only go so far as long
    as a loophole exists that enables criminals and other
    dangerous people to buy guns without background
    checks."

    Again, it's not a loophole, it's the was the law was written. Furthermore, what if background checks were required on all private sales, what indication is there that criminals will do background checks? Thugs are gonna do what thugs do, regardless of any restrictive law. Hell, your favorite report to quote from BJS shows that in 1997 39.2% of firearms came from thugs.

    What's next, registration? That would be against the law at the federal level. You see, congress is well aware of why we have a second amendment.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dog Gone,

    And yet, I just don't feel sorry for any of that, since I'm not responsible. At least no more than you. You're not willing to compromise your position to come to any kind of middle ground with us, so you're as much to blame for the state of the law as we are.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MAgunner, like all pro-gun extremists do when faced with a good argument, reverts back to the definition of "loophole." This, in spite of the fact that we all know what we're talking about.

    How about if we call it "gunshow loophole," oh no that's no good, OK let's call it "private sale loophole," oh no even that's no good. How about "private sale exemption?"

    Would "private sale exemption" work for you?

    ReplyDelete
  9. mikeb302000 said...

    "Would "private sale exemption" work for you?"

    well that's exactly what it is.

    dog gone said...
    "It makes you the people who enable the boys who shot up Columbine to get the guns."


    The only person enabling E.Harris was Robyn Anderson. Columbine is a very tragic story on both sides. E.Harris had mental health issues and his parents did little. E.Harris wrote public death threats about other students and the police did little.

    Gun control had little to do with the tragedy at columbine. Columbine was about a psychopath and his follower and certainly no other law (bomb making) stopped them.

    Now, on the other hand, what if a teacher was allowed to carry a firearm, could one of those teachers stopped the boys? Who knows, but were certainly prevented from intervening.

    ReplyDelete
  10. dog gone said...

    "It makes you the people who contribute to making it so very easy for all those tens of thousands of guns to go to Mexico where they are used to kill people wholesale."

    So, how are these "semi trucks loaded with guns" getting to Mexico? Certainly they must be driving on some type of road, going through some type of, what's that word, oh yeah, CHECK POINT. Why is it then that there have been no reports of semi trucks loaded with guns being stopped? Even a news search turned up nothing. Could this be ONE MORE LIE that the anti-rights group wants people to believe. Another EXAGGERATION of the facts?

    FACT: the ATF not only allowed, but encouraged the illegal trafficking of firearms from the U.S. to Mexico.
    FACT: FBI Informants were paid to purchase firearms to smuggle to Mexico
    FACT: The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."
    FACT: In 2009, The State Department approved the sale of 18,709 firearms to the Mexican Government.
    FACT: According to the State Department, in 2009, more than a quarter (26 percent) of the guns sold to the region that includes Mexico were "diverted" into the wrong hands.
    The National Shooting Sports Foundation's Larry Keane,(the same people that own the DontLie website) who speaks for gun manufacturers, said he understands the potential for abuse.

    "There have been 150,000 or more Mexican soldiers defect to go work for the cartels, and I think it's safe to assume that when they defect they take their firearms with them," Keane told CBS News.

    Private sales within the United States is certainly not Mexico's problem. Gun Control is Mexico's Problem. With their citizens disarmed, they don't even have a chance to defend themselves. BUT WAIT! According to this news report
    http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Gun-owners-in-Mexico--121814734.html
    private citizens are arming themselves for protection. “They’re telling the government, if you can’t protect us, let us protect ourselves.”

    ReplyDelete
  11. I hate to burst your bubble but you are not going to get your ban/control of private sales.

    The GCA'68 only applied to dealers because it would not have passed had it included private sales.

    The original Brady Bill wanted to apply to apply waiting periods and background checks to private sales but they found out early that it would never pass if it did.

    You will not get private transfers abolished. Move along.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "FACT: the ATF not only allowed, but encouraged the illegal trafficking of firearms from the U.S. to Mexico.
    FACT: FBI Informants were paid to purchase firearms to smuggle to Mexico
    FACT: The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."
    FACT: In 2009, The State Department approved the sale of 18,709 firearms to the Mexican Government.
    FACT: According to the State Department, in 2009, more than a quarter (26 percent) of the guns sold to the region that includes Mexico were "diverted" into the wrong hands."

    somguy and other gunzloonz like to throw this sort of stuff up to prove that it's the reasonable gun control advocates who enable the ATF and other gummint agencies to do this sort of thing--conveniently ignoring the fact that the ATF and other gummint agencies are not working at the behest of the Brady Campaign.

    I can't speak for anyone else who posts here but I can speak for myself and I have stated, more than once, that I'm not a fan of the ATF. Grandstanding assholes like Darrel Issa would be going after abortion providers or welfare "cheats" is the gunz issue wasn't there to make political hay with. That the ATF is stupid enough to make it easy for him is not my problem.

    ReplyDelete
  13. democommie said...

    "somguy and other gunzloonz like to throw this sort of stuff up to prove that it's the reasonable gun control advocates who enable the ATF and other gummint agencies to do this sort of thing--conveniently ignoring the fact that the ATF and other gummint agencies are not working at the behest of the Brady Campaign."

    Contrary to your misinterpretation of my post, I said nothing about the rights control crowd enabling ATF, but now that you mention it.

    From Mark Chait, Assistant Director Field Operation. Wednesday, July 14, 2010 10:25 AM to William Newell:

    "Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from same FFL and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long fun multiple sales."

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had a look at your source material for this article. Just why would the City of New York spend its money to send investigators to an Arizona gun show? That's somewhat outside of New York's jurisdiction, no? I do hope that the investigators cleared their actions with local law enforcement, since if they used New York City money to buy those guns, they might qualify as straw purchasers. This is looking like a local jurisdiction trying to do what the Federal government is supposed to do. Isn't that exactly what the problem is with Arizona's attempt to enforce immigration laws?

    ReplyDelete
  15. FWM, I don't think the private sale exemption is as inviolate as you say. We'll see. I give it 5 years.

    ReplyDelete