Closing the "Newspaper Loophole" |
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Summary: The Issue in Depth: Federal law (Chapter 44 of the Gun Control Act of 1968) requires that anyone “engaged in the business” of buying and selling guns be licensed, but this terminology does not include “a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.” Under the Brady Law (enacted by Congress in 1993), federally licensed gun dealers are required to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers. In addition, dealers are required to maintain records of their transactions. These records aid law enforcement in tracing stolen guns and guns used in crimes. However, unlicensed individuals selling firearms from a “personal collection” are not required to conduct background checks or keep records. In the gun business, firearm sales by unlicensed sellers are referred to as “secondary sales.” Researchers estimate that “secondary sales” account for 40% of all gun transfers. [1] Most Americans are familiar with the so-called “gun show loophole” which allows unlicensed individuals to sell firearms at gun shows without conducting a criminal background check on the buyer. However, gun shows are just one source of secondary firearm sales. Other sources include flea markets, estate sales, firearm sales over the Internet, and firearm sales through classified ads in newspapers. We call firearm sales by unlicensed individuals through classified ads in newspapers the “newspaper loophole.” As with the gun show loophole, the newspaper loophole allows felons, domestic abusers, minors, and other persons in prohibited categories to buy firearms with no criminal background check, no record of sale, no questions asked. [1] Cook, PJ and Ludwig, J, Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms, National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, May, 1997. Illustrating the Issue: Mark Williams of Bradenton, FL was involved in a contentious divorce and child custody dispute. A custody hearing was scheduled for April 28, 2003 and a divorce hearing on May 2. But neither hearing would be held. On the morning of April 27, one day before the scheduled custody hearing, Williams bought a CZ-52 – 7.62x25mm Tokarev semiautomatic handgun in a private transaction through a classified ad in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Later on the same day, Williams shot and killed his estranged wife, Raquel Soliz-Williams, in front of her nine-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Williams was a convicted felon and domestic abuser. In 1987 he served 6 months in prison of an 18-month sentence for aggravated battery (for stalking another woman). In 1994 he was convicted of engaging in organized crime in Texas and was sentenced to 5 years probation. The previous December, a judge issued a restraining order against Williams requested by his estranged wife. Five weeks later, she asked the judge to vacate the order to make the situation less contentious. At the time of the shooting, Williams was also subject to a court restraining order secured by his first wife, Estella Martinez, who now lives in Illinois. As a convicted felon and a person subject to a court restraining order for domestic violence, Williams was a prohibited firearms purchaser. As such, he could not buy a gun from a licensed firearms dealer because he could not pass a criminal background check mandated by the Brady Law on all gun store sales. However, a loophole in the federal law allows unlicensed individuals to sell firearms from their “personal collection” without conducting a criminal background check on the buyer. Williams evidently knew that he could avoid undergoing a criminal background check by buying from an unlicensed seller in a private transaction – in this case, through the classifieds in a local newspaper. |