Current gun availability laws are quite loose in a majority of states because of loopholes in the system according to the book “The Loud Debate Over Gun Control.” The average citizen can obtain a gun with virtually no one knowing except the person who sold it. This is because there is no restriction on who sells guns to whom; guns can be exchanged freely without a trace. This allows the buyers that cannot pass background checks to possess a gun.
The term "Gun Show Loophole" refers to laws that allows private individuals "not engaged in the business" of dealing firearms to sell guns at gun shows as well as individual private sales without conducting background checks on purchasers or maintaining records of sale. The term has been in use since early 90’s, when the Violence Policy Center used it in a published study.
Gun Dealers at gun shows often are not concerned even with the current loose gun laws because they are unlicensed dealers. In the book “Seven Myths about Gun Control” it mentions that Guns Shows result as the 2nd leading source of illegal firearm trafficking.
Gun Shows provides convicted felons and other prohibited purchasers such as domestic abusers, substance abusers, those who have been determinedas "mental defectives," etc. with opportunities to evade background checks. Gun shows have been called “Tupperware parties for criminals” because they attract large numbers of prohibited buyers. According to former ATF spokesman Tom Mangan, in many cases, it’s simply a “cash and carry” transaction. Gun show dealers have been known to advertise to criminals with signs that read “no background checks required here.”
Another issue that makes this loophole even worse is the expiring of the automatic weapons ban. The 10-year ban on the sale of automatic assault weapons, signed by President Clinton in 1994 expired in 2004 and not enough was done to renew it because automatic weapons are out there for purchase. This banned the manufacturing and sale of 19 different assault weapons according to an online article “Assault Weapons.” Automatic Assault weapons are also the weapon of choice for other issues such as school shootings, drug trade, and terrorist organizations across the world.
A manual titled, "How Can I Train Myself for Jihad" was recovered in September, 2001, among the rubble at a training facility for a radical Pakistan-based Islamic terrorist organization. The manual contained a chapter on "Firearms Training" and singled out the United States for its easy availability of firearms. It also named the States where Al Qaeda members in the United States could "obtain an assault weapon legally, preferably AK-47 or variations." Of course all of these automatic weapons are easily purchased at gun shows through means of private sale since the ban expired.
The Book “Gun Control Debate” States that “almost all other countries have systems for registration of firearms. “ The United States needs to extend its regulations to cover all secondary market sales such as all gun show sales as well as private sales. In 1999 the Senate voted to regulate gun shows and take care of the “gun show loophole,” but the House took no action. Since no action was taken this “loophole” allows criminals, terrorist, or whom ever to legally buy and sell guns in the United States on a cash-and-carry, no-questions asked basis. Politicians and voters can make the greatest difference by voting on these issues when they come up on ballots and not letting them go unnoticed again.
I affirm the second amendment right to legally possess a gun, and I am in support of prohibiting the private sales of firearms as well as reinstating the automatic weapons ban, because firearms need to be stop ending up in the wrong hands.