Controversies Surrounding Gun Shows and Legislation

Since the invention of firearms, a large number of people have seen, held, shot, or owned a firearm. In today’s society, there is a conflict on the laws surrounding gun shows and how these shows should be handled. Many people believe Congress should attempt to limit the access to these guns, while others believe the current laws in place are substantial. It is believed that gun shows give citizens who wish to commit criminal acts access to obtain these weapons. Limiting access to firearms could help control who is able to buy these guns, however, gun shows are not the only blame for when criminals obtain firearms legally/illegally. Under federal law, when licensed dealers at gun shows sell a gun to a buyer they must perform a background

check on the buyer, though state laws on this matter vary state to state for private sellers (“Gun Show Background Checks” pg 1). A private seller is defined as someone who does not rely on gun sales as their livelihood and sell no more than four firearms per year (1).
For a gun dealer to even sale firearms at a gun show, there are often several rules and regulations they need to follow, but these rules vary from each individual gun show.

According to the ATF regulations, one of the most common rules they require is that the gun dealer must have their license displayed as well as keeping accurate records of their sells. Some rules even go as far as they can only sell certain firearms to those who live in the state they are living in (“Gun Show Guidelines”). This could essentially create problems to gun dealers who rely on their profits at these gun shows to sustain a way of living. This in return could cause those gun dealers to break the laws and may potentially sell a gun to someone who wish to commit a crime. The guns that are sold at gun shows make up a large amount of the guns that people

own.
Many people believe that gun sales have decreased in recent years, however, sources state the opposite.

At gun shows, the demand and sales of firearms have increased in the past several years. Moore, a writer for the Business Insider, states that the gun and ammunition manufacturing industry in the U.S. alone brings in $13 billion alone. Sales seem to go up after high profile shootings and when the government calls for increased gun control. This could be due to people wanting to protect their selves and their homes, as well as, protecting their Second Amendment Right. Many people believe in this “right to bear arms” and practice it to its full extent and are willing to protect that right to the best of their ability (Bill of Rights). Even though statistics show that gun sales are increasing as the news reports more and more mass shootings, there is a large amount of citizens who feel that there need to be stricter gun

laws.
Due to recent mass shootings and the fear of terrorism, many American citizens are calling for stricter gun laws. President Obama has responded by wanting to increase background checks on future gun owners and work to enforce current laws (Parsons pg 1). Though this appeals too many Americans, how well will this plan actually work? Even if this plan works on public gun shows, how does it affect private gun sales? There are many factors to take into account that involve guns. According to the editorial writer, Eilperin, the idea of informal gun dealers to obtain a license and have background checks came up two years ago (pg 1). This helps to create the idea that though they have been planning this for several years now, the government is just now pushing the idea forward.
Gun dealers, however, are not to blame if they perform proper background checks and document information correctly when they sell a gun to a buyer. Mother Jones magazine has created a database of mass shootings that date back to 1982, and data shows that 80% of guns used in mass shootings were obtained through legal means (Follman pg 1). Even though these dealers perform the correct procedure, the gun dealers cannot prevent the buyers from their intentions. Once the gun leaves the gun dealers hand (once a sale and a background check has been made) the gun dealer is no longer responsible. There are some gun dealers though that are not registered and licensed to sell guns at a gun show. Even though ATF (The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) investigators know these gun dealers are selling illegally, it is still a long process to prove they are selling the guns for a profit. This could be a very long and tedious process (Noble pg 1-2).
Even if Congress cracks down on gun shows and create stricter laws, it will not fully prevent illegal selling of guns. Noble, a writer for the Washington Times, proves this as they interview former ATF agents. Even though they have been able to catch some illegal sellers, such as the Andrew Phillip Nordstrom case. Nordstrom purchased dozen of guns and quickly turned around and illegally sold them without a license and without performing proper background checks. One buyer was a convicted felon who was working with the ATF. He was able to purchase a 9mm handgun, which he should have not been able to do. This case took over a year of investigation before Nordstrom has charges placed against him. If each investigation takes this long for each illegal seller in each state, it could become almost impossible to catch every individual.
One way Congress could make it more difficult for gun dealers to sell guns illegally at gun show is to require them to show their registration/license to the gun show company to prove they are able to legally show guns. Also the gun shows should inspect all the firearms that the gun dealers are trying to sell as well to make sure there are no guns that are not allowed to be sold in the state they are in. Background checks should be made in view of a trained official to ensure that the gun dealers perform proper procedures. They should also be required to document all of their sells with the buyers information and turn it into the people who are in charge of the gun show to double check are sales could be made. If they find anyone who bought a gun, but are not cleared for their background checks, the gun show officials are able to contact this person. This could help prevent the gun show owner future blame for criminals who buy their guns from there as well as protection for the gun show dealer.
Completely stopping gun shows will not prevent shootings and gun related crimes from occurring. However, Congress can help to prevent and lower the gun related crimes by future enforcement of the current laws in place.