Closing the Gun Show Loophole

Summary: When a federal firearms licensee (FFL) – a licensed gun dealer – sells a firearm, he/she must conduct a criminal background check on the buyer to ensure that the buyer is not a felon, domestic abuser, minor or other prohibited purchaser. However, unlicensed sellers who sell firearms from a “personal collection” do not have to conduct background checks. One major venues for non-dealer sales is the gun show.

IPGV supports both legislative and nonlegislative efforts to "close the gun show loophole" in order to prevent prohibited purchasers from buying guns from unlicensed sellers.

The Issue in Depth:

Under the Brady Law, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers and maintain records of their transactions. Background checks are performed by contacting a national computerized database – the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) – maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). These background checks prevent prohibited firearms purchasers from buying firearms.

However, gun sales by licensed dealers account for only 60 percent of all gun sales. [1] The remaining 40 percent of gun sales are conducted on the “secondary market” by unlicensed sellers – an estimated 5.45 million transactions.

Unlicensed individuals selling firearms from a “personal collection” are not required to conduct background checks or keep records. In fact, unlicensed sellers cannot conduct background checks because only licensed firearms dealers have access to NICS. Therefore, unlicensed sellers have no way to verify that their buyer is not a prohibited purchaser, e.g. felon, domestic abuser, minor, etc., before selling the buyer the weapon.

If it is conservatively assumed that the rejection rate for these non-dealer sales is the same as for dealer sales (around 2.2%), this means that an estimated 120,000 prohibited purchasers are able to buy guns without a background check each year from unlicensed sellers.

One of the largest markets for these secondary gun sales by unlicensed individuals is the gun show. At gun shows, both licensed dealers and unlicensed sellers sell guns. The licensed dealers conduct background checks, while the unlicensed sellers do not. This double standard constitutes the "gun show loophole."