Gun show in the media
But state police say the event – the Middletown Great Gun and Knife Show – has become an open market for unscrupulous sellers who hawk weapons in the parking lot without conducting background checks on the buyers, a violation of federal law.
Actually, if it wasn’t a dealer (or was a dealer selling privately owned arms) there is no federal law against it. If you read further:
The men weren’t registered vendors in the gun show, state police said.
[snip]
“These were private gun owners who were making what would normally be a legitimate transaction, the sale of a legal firearm between two people,” said Sgt. David Scott, of the state police barracks in the Town of Wallkill. “But when you enter into a gun show and make the deal there, unfortunately you’re bound by a different law.”
Must be a California law as there is no Federal law preventing such a transaction.
May 19th, 2005 at 8:21 am
Or, having failed to bother with the workaday hassle of actually learning the law, the officer simply believes the media hype that there really is somehow a “gun-show loophole” that magically changes that law.
My second theory is that the reporter is an idiot & simply misquoted the officer.
May 19th, 2005 at 8:31 am
Well we were each half right:
California requires background checks for ALL secondary sales (with a few exceptions or intra-family transfers) regardless of whether or not the sale happened at a gun show.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/legislation/state/viewstate.php?st=ca#gunshows
http://www.bradycampaign.org/legislation/state/viewstate.php?st=ca#secondary