Loop the Loop

Coming up here pretty quickly is a rather big gun show. The fam and I are doing the 3 hour trek to go there and check things out. It got me to thinking about one of the things that people who don’t know any better are all in a tizzy about. That notorious “Gun Show Loophole”.

If people took the time to fact find about gun shows, they’d learn that there is no loophole. Just like there’s no “gun show crime problem” and no reason to legislate more restrictions that infringe my rights and yours.

The media’s talking heads are really good with whipping up frenzy about how “loophole gun sales” are getting guns on the streets and into the hands of criminals.
Firstly, gun laws apply at gun shows just like they do in gun stores or sporting goods stores where guns are sold.
Secondly, a Department of Justice survey of inmates found that the most common sources were family or friends and the guns that changed hands were in no way connected to gun shows.

The media would like you to believe that private sales taking place between individuals who are not part of the gun show are in fact what the “loophole” is about.
An individual who is not in the business of selling firearms, yet trades or sells a firearm to another private individual, is not obligated to obtain the federal license required of gun dealers or to call the FBI before completing the sale. This is a PRIVATE transaction and thus is not part of a “gun show” and is by default not part of any “loophole”.

In essence, “gun show loopholes” are akin to the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. The jury is still out on Santa.