doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gun Show Laws..............

I heard on the news last night about some new laws that were going to be started at gun shows. Anyone heard about it? What are they going to change?

First off, there is nothing you can LEGALLY do at a gun show that you can not LEGALLY do, in your state, outside a gun show. The "gun show loophole" does not exist. It's pure BS, dreamed up by the anti-gunners and the media, who generally have little or no idea what laws exist now. If there is anything new coming, I'd think it would have to be on an individual state basis. I'll be interested in what comes out, here.
Thank you,

I think there may be an attack on gun shows based on the new mental issue reporting requirements. Dealers doing background checks will/should be more likely to get such information now. It is esty for the media to then say non-dealer gunshow sales don't have the background check and this loophole must be closed. As noted above, private sales at a gunshow could just as easily be made off-site (state, county, and local laws being respected). So, the actual attack may well be on private sales.

This is the only new thing I found on Google:
Governor proposes new gun laws

Posted: Jan 8, 2008 07:30 PM MST

Updated: Jan 9, 2008 04:47 PM MST

Also on WAVY.com

Go to the WAVY Blogs and blog this topic







Governor Tim Kaine announced his proposal to strengthen laws regarding gun shows. Right now licensed dealers are required to get background checks, before selling a firearm to someone at a gun show.

Kaine wants to expand the law to include private dealers at gun shows.

"If we prevent one person from getting a gun who is not supposed to have one, it's an opportunity to save lives," said Governor Kaine.

Kaine says his proposal would not impact law-abiding gun buyers, but it would prevent felons, domestic abusers and the mentally ill from buying a gun at a gun show.

As the Governor made his announcement he was flanked by several parents of Virginia Tech students killed in the April 16th tragedy.

"My name is Mike White and I lost my daughter Nicole White at Virginia Tech that fateful day," said the father of a student from Smithfield."

"As a gun owner myself and a former avid hunter, I believe this bill is a healthy compromise. It will bring safety to our families," said White.

The Governor said to anyone who opposes the proposal "Tell me why a domestic abuser should be able to buy a gun. Tell me why someone who is mentally ill should be able to buy a gun. If someone is willing to stand up and tell me there is a good reason why, I'll listen, but I will tell them it's going to be very hard to convince me."

The Governor said, while the gun lobby has always fought hard to prevent stronger gun laws, he believes this year his proposal has a good chance at becoming law.





News

As I suspected, it's a state proposal. The term "private dealer", used in the above, is a misnomer. There is no such thing as a "private dealer". One is either a dealer, as licensed by the ATF, or not a dealer. More feel-good crap that will solve nothing, prevent nothing and simply make life more inconvenient for law-abiding people.

"If we prevent one person from getting a gun who is not supposed to have one, it's an opportunity to save lives," said Governor Kaine." Quote

The same old tired and trite argument. You could also use this to argue that taking all the cars off roads would save lives.
Be prepared for a LOT more of the B.S. after the 2008 elections.
Jim

What puzzles me is how does a dealer determine whether a buyer is trustworthy, not an abuser, mentally challenged, with criminal record? Wouldn't the dealer himself be in conflict of interest?

The dealer simply calls the prohibited purchaser database. If the buyer is not on that list, then the sale is OK. The trouble is incomplete and incorrect data and identity confusion. The VT shooter should have been on the list and, had he been, would have been denied sale of the guns he bought from dealers. Unfortunately, the dealers didn't get that information. Would he have bought from sources outside the law? Don't know.

The only conflict is for a dealer who sees making a sale as more important than keeping guns out of the hands of those on the list - that would be exceedingly rare in my experience.

That's what the background check is SUPPOSED to do, King. The conflict addressed above is that private sellers do not (and cannot do) background checks.

Thank you, Jim and Rocketman.

IIRC, the VT shooter bought his handguns legally by going through the NICS checks, but since his M/H history had been withheld from input (because we're such a PC nation), it didn't show up in his NICS check to deny his purchase. So the system created to stop his type from purchasing a firearm,, failed to stop his type from purchasing a firearm. Now after the fact the system has been (supposedly) fixed and all the needed M/H records entered and all is well once again because they said so. What that has to do with the private sale of a firearm, I don't know. What I do know is that it's just another attempt to shut down gunshows all together and I think the private sale & transfer of firearms all together. Having the family member of a V/T victim publicly support the bill posted above with a carefully worded message is nothing more than politics. How do you go up against his simple plea for keeping guns out of the hands of 'domestic abusers' and 'someone who is mentally ill'. It's like not being for clean air and clean water. Truth is, and we all know it, that the laws already do not permit the sale or transfer of a firearm to such persons.
BUT...the one area (their 'Loop Hole') they wish to close is the 'private sale of a firearm' where no NICS check is done. The fact that private sellers do not/cannot do a NICS check is what fuels this. They're starting with the private sales at a gun show. A few states already have that law in place. From there, the cry to expand the ban on ALL private sales will come as the 'Loop Hole' will still exists outside of the gunshows.
NY states law re this requires that even if NO transaction of the firearm is made at the gunshow between 2 private partys, but just the start or talk of the dealing, then the final deal is made sometime after (days/weeks..), that sale/trade between those two private partys must go through an FFL/NICS to be legal. The fact that it started at a gunshow
makes it a come under that law where all private transactions must go through an FFL/NICS. That includes any transactions anywhere on the grounds that the gunshow is held also. This is the type of control they're after.