State law does not regulate sales by private sellers at gun shows, via Uncle Henry’s or otherwise, except that no firearm may be sold to a person under 16 and no handgun, to a person under 18.
NRA
The NRA has employed a number of stock arguments against new gun laws but one of the most frequently employed is that enforcement of existing laws would obviate the need for new laws. In its 2006 publication “Targeting Criminals, Not Gun Owners”, the NRA claimed that if we “get tough on criminals, not on our right to own guns . . . crime will disappear” (hardly a modest objective!), and the same year Wayne LaPierre, NRA President, told USA Today ,“Until you provide 100% enforcement of the existing laws, [criminals are] going to laugh at you”.
Quite serendipitously Ronald Reagan used much the same language to endorse the Brady bill, telling the New York Times it was a new “enforcement mechanism” that “can’t help but stop thousands of illegal gun purchases”. Reagan was right, of course: background checks only enforce existing law by providing an efficient and inexpensive means of determining if a gun buyer is barred by an existing law from purchasing a firearm. Extending such enforcement to sales at gun shows and by non-dealers would seem to be what the NRA and Mr. LaPierre so strongly advocate as the solution to America’s crime problem.
Republican Support
To the great surprise of many gun advocates Republican leaders for many years have supported more restrictive gun laws. Ronald Reagan’s support of the Brady bill was instrumental to its passage, George W Bush in 2004 supported renewing the assault weapon ban (that Congress then allowed to expire), and he supported extending federal background checks to all sales at gun shows.
John McCain over strong opposition from the NRA always has supported closing the gun show loophole, and has done so eloquently: “Despite the tragic lessons we have learned, it is still far too easy for a convicted felon to buy firearms at a gun show. That is wrong. This is not about what’s conservative and what’s liberal, what’s Republican and what’s Democrat. It’s about what’s right and what’s wrong. And quite simply, closing this loophole is the right thing to do. “ To put “paid” to McCain’s position John Ashcroft also recently endorsed background checks at gun shows.
Precedents
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania have enacted legislation requiring background checks for all sales at gun shows. Such legislation has not reduced the popularity of gun shows in such states, and the only gun show in Maine that is restricted to licensed dealers (Bangor) remains one of the most heavily attended in the state.
California, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have enacted legislation requiring background checks for all private firearms sales.
Public Opinion
Consistently and for many years national polls show more than 80% support for extending federal background checks to sales at gun shows (Henigan, Prologue, n. 9). Current polls show the same. In December 2009 Republican pollster Frank Luntz, nationally recorded 85% support for closing the gun show loophole among non-NRA members and a strong 69% support among NRA members. The Pan Atlantic SMS Poll in Maine in September 2009 recorded 88% support for closing the gun show loophole and only 8.7% opposed, a support ratio of better than 10 to 1.
SOME MYTHS DEBUNKED
MYTH - Guns are registered and when there is a crime, they are easy to track down.
FACT - Maine does not require guns to be registered.
MYTH - There is no Gun Show Loophole. Private sales are just that, private and are therefore not controlled by Commerce laws.
FACT - Many private sellers or 'non dealers' are in fact taking advantage of their status. Take a look at the undercover video on our Home Page. Also so visit our Statistics Page that outlines this problem with Uncle Henry's. This is what is meant by the Gun Show Loophole.
MYTH - There are countries like Israel and Switzerland with more guns and less crime than the US.
FACT - While these countries have armed militias, they also have very strict rules where the militias and guns are concerned which mean they acutally do have strict gun control laws.
MYTH - President Obama wants to completly ban guns.
FACT - President Obama, according to the Brady Center 2009 Report Card, failed miserably with all F's. Sure doesn't look like he's even trying to close the Gun Show Loophole.
