The gun show loophole
The anti's have done a very good job of introducing that nonsensical phrase into the American psyche. That phrase is meaningless, a false representation, and basically a lie. There is no such thing as a "Gun show loophole". Firearm transactions at gun shows are regulated by the same local, state and federal laws as any other firearm transaction in that locale. There is no special pass related to gun shows that allows you to purchase a firearm outside of the laws of the state.
The anti's, with the willing help of the media, are effective at spreading propaganda. Just ask a couple of your friends and acquaintances about the "Gun show loophole" and see what they say. There is now this belief that anyone can go to gun shows and purchase any firearm they desire without .gov regulation. This belief is, of course, wrong.
Along with the propaganda assault, comes the legislation.
On the federal level, House Bill H.R. 96 has been introduced by Representative Michael Castle of Delaware. H.R. 96 has three co-sponsors and is titled "Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2007". This is a horrendous bill which must be stopped. The purpose of this bill is not to close an imaginary loophole, but to put a stop to gun shows, period. Passage of this bill would make operating a gun show a paperwork and criminal liability nightmare. H.R. 96 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
On the local level, here in Texas we have HB 594 submitted by Yvonne Davis. Yvonne Davis is the same anti who submitted HB 595 which I commented upon here. HB 594 is titled "An act Relating to the creation of certain offenses concerning firearm sales at gun shows." HB 594 has no co-sponsors and no real support in Austin. I doubt that this bill will even be debated, this time.
Neither one of these bills are new. Legislation such as this has been introduced before, and has failed. The problem is that each time legislation like this gets introduced, it gets a little bit more support. The Texas bill will fail this time around. I am not so sure about the federal one. I would hope it never makes it out of committee.
If there is no such thing as a gun show loophole, why are the anti's and the politicians pushing so hard to enact anti-gun show legislation?
Well....
If the answer you came up with has anything to do with criminals and illegal guns, then you have been influenced by the anti's propaganda machine. The Bureau of Justice Statistics performed a study in 2001 that determined that less than 1% of firearms owned by criminals were purchased at gun shows. Of the ones that were purchased at the gun shows, the majority were not purchased by the criminal, but by a friend or relative (straw purchases, already against the law). Gun shows are not major sources of firearms for criminals. The politicians know this, even the anti's know this, they have the same reports and facts that we do. So then why are they so determined to close gun shows?
The answer is a simple one, closing down gun shows will have a major negative effect upon the firearm industry and more importantly, the gun culture in the United States. Gun shows are a place to meet and interact with other like minded individuals, to learn about new products, and enjoy a bit of history. Most folks that attend a gun show don't purchase a firearm. I have attempted to get stats from local promoters on what percentage of attendees actually purchase a firearm, I will let you know when I hear back from them.
Gun shows are where most of us get a chance to see and handle the new products that are advertised in the gun magazines and at SHOT Show. I am interested in several of the new products that were introduced at this years SHOT Show and it will not be long before they are all available at one of the local larger gun shows. It would take several days of traveling from one gun shop to the next to check out all of these new products, and I would still probably not be able to see the wide array of historical firearms that are available at a good gun show.
It used to be that just about every department and hardware store had a gun department. Firearms were just a normal part of life. Now finding a gun section in a hardware store is the exception rather than the rule, guns have disappeared from the everyday life of most individuals, and the sale of firearms is no longer considered to be "normal". Taking someone who is not familiar with firearms to a gun show allows them to see the wide variety of individuals who attend. At a gun show you will find people from every background, culture and economic level, drawn together by one interest... firearms.
If the anti's succeed in this attempt to close down gun shows, it will be another major coup. We will lose a lot more than just a place to go and buy firearms, we will lose a bit of our heritage and tradition as gun owners. We will lose access to new products and our ability to make informed decisions concerning new purchases will be restricted. We will lose one avenue of disseminating and discussing information relating to gun laws and other political issues important to gun owners. Grass roots organizations will have a harder time recruiting members and volunteers. Gun shows bring together all aspects of the gun culture, the hunters, target shooters, collectors, police and military. Closing down gun shows will give the anti's better leverage in driving wedges between these different groups of firearm enthusiasts and make further gun control easier to accomplish.
It is very important that we put a stop to legislation such as this. Call, write and fax your congress critter and let them know that legislation meant to curtail the business of operating gun shows will not be tolerated. Inform them of the facts concerning criminals and firearms (that the vast majority of firearms owned by criminals are either stolen or purchased on the black market), and that their time would be better spent focusing on the criminal, not the tool.
A couple of related articles from the NRA/ILA:
Gun Shows: An American Tradition
Fables, Myths & Other Tall Tales; FABLE XV: A gun show "loophole" exists that allows many criminals and terrorists to purchase guns.
Showing posts with label Gun Shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gun Shows. Show all posts
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Gun Show Report
I apologize for not posting yesterday, but we ran out of day before we ran out of stuff to do. Most of the day was spent at the Dallas Market Hall Gun Show, followed by dinner at Mercado Juarez and an evening of taking down the Christmas Tree, putting away the indoor Christmas decorations, changing out the Christmas dishes with the regular ones and watching both the Cowboys and the Dallas Stars lose in the last minutes of their respective games.
It was a good day, just me and V.
Did I mention that we went to a gun show? The Market Hall Gun Show is the most popular gun show in North Texas. It generally has good crowds and a wide variety of dealers. We arrived a bit before noon, and the line to get in was the longest I have seen at this venue. The line moved along quickly, they had plenty of folks to take your money and check weapons at the door.
The larger vendors (Bachman Pawn, Schrams and the like) had people lined up to fill out paperwork and take home firearms. I did hear one smaller vendor complaining about all the people and no buyers, but he was way to proud of what he was trying to sell, and his prices reflected that. One table had several Martini's/BSA's, they were in very good condition but priced just a tad high. I use a Martini for long range .22 silhouette shooting and really like those rifles. It was good seeing them at the show.
T.J. from Tiger Valley had a booth as did a few CHL instructors. There were also a few custom knife makers showing their wares and doing good business. One good thing about Market Hall is the number of Black Rifle related dealers that are there. They give you a good variety of configurations to look at and ideas to take home.
V has decided that she just, might, maybe be ready to think about getting her CHL. So our goal for this gun show was to find the pistol/revolver that was the best fit for her hands. I had a good idea of what I thought would work for her, but I did not let her know what I thought until after she had tried them out herself. We let the vendors know what we were doing, and that we probably were not going to make a purchase today. The dealers were very helpful, even with the large crowd, and let her handle anything that caught her eye. V quickly decided that revolvers were out, I had her try several different grip configurations during the day, but they were a no go. We fairly quickly determined what she liked and didn't like and were narrowing it down to what was best for her grip.
One of the first handguns she tried was a Browning Hi-Power, it fit her like a glove and I could tell it struck a nerve with her. The Hi-Power became the one that all the others were compared against. Two isles down, she said "Let's go back and see that Browning again". So back we went. She fondled it some more, looked at the price and decided it was too much. Two more isles and probably 30 handguns later, she said "Let's go, I'm getting the Browning".
It is kind of hard to work a better deal on a gun that your wife has been salivating over for 4 hours. The guy knows that he has set the hook and you are getting that gun. That being said, we did get a very good deal on this 1989, safe queen, Browning Hi-Power.
All in all I would have to say that this has been a great weekend.
It was a good day, just me and V.
Did I mention that we went to a gun show? The Market Hall Gun Show is the most popular gun show in North Texas. It generally has good crowds and a wide variety of dealers. We arrived a bit before noon, and the line to get in was the longest I have seen at this venue. The line moved along quickly, they had plenty of folks to take your money and check weapons at the door.
The larger vendors (Bachman Pawn, Schrams and the like) had people lined up to fill out paperwork and take home firearms. I did hear one smaller vendor complaining about all the people and no buyers, but he was way to proud of what he was trying to sell, and his prices reflected that. One table had several Martini's/BSA's, they were in very good condition but priced just a tad high. I use a Martini for long range .22 silhouette shooting and really like those rifles. It was good seeing them at the show.
T.J. from Tiger Valley had a booth as did a few CHL instructors. There were also a few custom knife makers showing their wares and doing good business. One good thing about Market Hall is the number of Black Rifle related dealers that are there. They give you a good variety of configurations to look at and ideas to take home.
V has decided that she just, might, maybe be ready to think about getting her CHL. So our goal for this gun show was to find the pistol/revolver that was the best fit for her hands. I had a good idea of what I thought would work for her, but I did not let her know what I thought until after she had tried them out herself. We let the vendors know what we were doing, and that we probably were not going to make a purchase today. The dealers were very helpful, even with the large crowd, and let her handle anything that caught her eye. V quickly decided that revolvers were out, I had her try several different grip configurations during the day, but they were a no go. We fairly quickly determined what she liked and didn't like and were narrowing it down to what was best for her grip.
One of the first handguns she tried was a Browning Hi-Power, it fit her like a glove and I could tell it struck a nerve with her. The Hi-Power became the one that all the others were compared against. Two isles down, she said "Let's go back and see that Browning again". So back we went. She fondled it some more, looked at the price and decided it was too much. Two more isles and probably 30 handguns later, she said "Let's go, I'm getting the Browning".
It is kind of hard to work a better deal on a gun that your wife has been salivating over for 4 hours. The guy knows that he has set the hook and you are getting that gun. That being said, we did get a very good deal on this 1989, safe queen, Browning Hi-Power.
All in all I would have to say that this has been a great weekend.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Went to a Gun Show Today
Went to my last gun show of the year today. It was the Big Town Gun Show in Mesquite. Big Town is one of the better gun shows here in North Texas. I arrived earlier than usual and got a good look around before the crowd filled that hall. By noon the place was packed, and the gun dealers appeared to be doing good business. Lots of paperwork getting filled out, and smiles on both sides of the table. Vendor pricing at the show ranged from good to pretty darn steep. There were several tempting choices for me, but with six grand babies and Christmas on the way I had to refrain. I did pick up a new El Paso Saddlery leather belt, some new manufacture SS 109 (ammo) and spoons for my AR15, and a Kimber Guardian Angel for my wife. All in all not a bad day at the gun show.
Gun shows like the one I visited today are very high on the anti gunners hit list. The anti's are working hard to do away with gun shows. "The gun show loop hole" is a phrase that has entered the American psyche over the last few years. The anti's and the media attempt to portray gun shows as places that are separate from federal, state and local firearms laws. That simply is not the truth. There is no such thing as a "gun show loop hole". All firearms transactions that occur at a gun show are subject to the same laws as any other firearms transaction in that state. So what is the real purpose behind the anti gunners agenda to close "the gun show loop hole"?
The anti's do not want to just close a gun show loop hole, they want to close down all gun shows. National legislation outlawing private sales of firearms and requiring waiting periods for all firearms purchases would severely hamper the ability of gun shows to exist. Closing down gun shows would be a major victory for the anti gunners, and they know it.
Gun shows are a major part of the gun culture, and they are very important part of maintaining our knowledge of firearms. Yes, folks can grumble about the vendors asking too much and offering too little. But at a gun show you can not only look at, but handle firearms from around the world and across the centuries.
This particular show had everything from the ultra modern FN PS90:
And a Barrett M82A1:
To a beautiful 1903A3 (not an image of the actual firearm, went to gunbroker for the image)
And quite a few Mausers and Mosin Nagants from all over the world. There were also a couple Swiss K31's. There are not many places with such a wide selection of firearms as a good gun show. Without venues like these, folks may never get exposed to such accurate and inexpensive firearms as the Swiss K31, or see in person the wide variety of modern firearms available today. If you are deciding on a handgun for self defense, a gun show is a great place to go and actually handle your different choices and help you find the firearm that fits you best.
Gun shows also help to pass the firearm tradition from father to son (in my case daughters). I was standing at one table looking at I forget what, when a young man around 11 or 12 handed a rifle to his father, and reminded him to be safe while he was looking at it.
If the anti's are successful in closing gun shows, they will be successful in doing away with an important means of passing on our firearms heritage.
My eight month old granddaughter assisted with this post. She likes trying to help me type.
Gun shows like the one I visited today are very high on the anti gunners hit list. The anti's are working hard to do away with gun shows. "The gun show loop hole" is a phrase that has entered the American psyche over the last few years. The anti's and the media attempt to portray gun shows as places that are separate from federal, state and local firearms laws. That simply is not the truth. There is no such thing as a "gun show loop hole". All firearms transactions that occur at a gun show are subject to the same laws as any other firearms transaction in that state. So what is the real purpose behind the anti gunners agenda to close "the gun show loop hole"?
The anti's do not want to just close a gun show loop hole, they want to close down all gun shows. National legislation outlawing private sales of firearms and requiring waiting periods for all firearms purchases would severely hamper the ability of gun shows to exist. Closing down gun shows would be a major victory for the anti gunners, and they know it.
Gun shows are a major part of the gun culture, and they are very important part of maintaining our knowledge of firearms. Yes, folks can grumble about the vendors asking too much and offering too little. But at a gun show you can not only look at, but handle firearms from around the world and across the centuries.
This particular show had everything from the ultra modern FN PS90:
And a Barrett M82A1:
To a beautiful 1903A3 (not an image of the actual firearm, went to gunbroker for the image)
And quite a few Mausers and Mosin Nagants from all over the world. There were also a couple Swiss K31's. There are not many places with such a wide selection of firearms as a good gun show. Without venues like these, folks may never get exposed to such accurate and inexpensive firearms as the Swiss K31, or see in person the wide variety of modern firearms available today. If you are deciding on a handgun for self defense, a gun show is a great place to go and actually handle your different choices and help you find the firearm that fits you best.
Gun shows also help to pass the firearm tradition from father to son (in my case daughters). I was standing at one table looking at I forget what, when a young man around 11 or 12 handed a rifle to his father, and reminded him to be safe while he was looking at it.
If the anti's are successful in closing gun shows, they will be successful in doing away with an important means of passing on our firearms heritage.
My eight month old granddaughter assisted with this post. She likes trying to help me type.
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