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"henever there is a shooting spree," said William S. Burroughs, "they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it."
He got that right. Take a look at the so-called gun-show loophole. Federal law requires all licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks. The "loophole" refers to the fact that some people who attend gun shows bring personal firearms to sell. This, say gun-control advocates, provides criminals with a major source of illicit weapons, so it's important to close the gun-show loophole.
There are four problems. First, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute for Justice have found that only 1 or 2 percent of offenders obtained their weapons from gun shows. Second, the activity at issue -- private, person-to-person firearms sales -- is not limited to gun shows, so calling it a "gun-show" loophole is disingenous.
Third, at least one proposed remedy would put all gun shows out of business. It would define as a vendor any attendee who brought a firearm to a gun show with the intent to sell it. It then would require gun-show promoters to provide to authorities the names of all "vendors" 30 days in advance of the show. That's like asking a seafood restaurant to provide in advance the name of every diner who orders crab cakes. It can't be done.
Finally, about 5,000 gun shows take place every year. Between 2,500 and 15,000 people attend each of them. The legislation aimed at the supposed loophole, therefore, would incommode millions of law-abiding people in the faint hope of producing a reduction in crime marginal at best.
Alas, that approach is not unique to gun control. It is becoming pervasive."................ The rest here ------------ <broken link removed>
He got that right. Take a look at the so-called gun-show loophole. Federal law requires all licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks. The "loophole" refers to the fact that some people who attend gun shows bring personal firearms to sell. This, say gun-control advocates, provides criminals with a major source of illicit weapons, so it's important to close the gun-show loophole.
There are four problems. First, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute for Justice have found that only 1 or 2 percent of offenders obtained their weapons from gun shows. Second, the activity at issue -- private, person-to-person firearms sales -- is not limited to gun shows, so calling it a "gun-show" loophole is disingenous.
Third, at least one proposed remedy would put all gun shows out of business. It would define as a vendor any attendee who brought a firearm to a gun show with the intent to sell it. It then would require gun-show promoters to provide to authorities the names of all "vendors" 30 days in advance of the show. That's like asking a seafood restaurant to provide in advance the name of every diner who orders crab cakes. It can't be done.
Finally, about 5,000 gun shows take place every year. Between 2,500 and 15,000 people attend each of them. The legislation aimed at the supposed loophole, therefore, would incommode millions of law-abiding people in the faint hope of producing a reduction in crime marginal at best.
Alas, that approach is not unique to gun control. It is becoming pervasive."................ The rest here ------------ <broken link removed>
