NRA lets us know that the GAO was told by anti-gun congress critters to study how easy it was to buy a gun online while being a prohibited person. Turns out, not that often:
In yet another embarrassment for the gun control lobby, a government investigation of online gun sales designed to determine whether private sellers would knowingly sell a firearm to an individual prohibited from possessing one determined that no, actually, they would not. In 72 attempts undertaken over 2 years, undercover agents trying to buy guns through readily-accessible Internet sites failed exactly 100% of the time to complete a sale when the seller had reason to believe the buyer was prohibited or lived in another state.
And from the actual report:
Tests performed on the Surface Web demonstrated that private sellers GAO contacted on gun forums and other classified ads were unwilling to sell a firearm to an individual who appeared to be prohibited from possessing a firearm. Of the 72 attempts agents made to purchase firearms on the Surface Web, 56 sellers refused to complete a transaction: 29 sellers stated they would not ship a firearm and 27 refused after the disclosure of the undercover identities stated prohibited status. Furthermore, in 5 of these 72 attempts, the accounts GAO set up were frozen by the websites, which prevented the agents from using the forums and attempting to make a purchase.