Unlicensed dealers provide a flow of weapons to those who shouldn't have them, CNN investigation fin

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

Unlicensed dealers provide a flow of weapons to those who shouldn't have them, CNN investigation finds

By Scott Glover, CNN Investigates. Additional reporting by Drew Griffin, Scott Bronstein, and Jose Pagliery
Updated 1239 GMT (2039 HKT) March 25, 2019

-snip-

Both men were referring to the Firearms Owners' Protection Act, a decades-old federal statute originally proposed by the National Rifle Association that dictates who is required to have a license to sell guns, and who is not.

The law's fuzziness on that distinction and its provision that defendants must willfully violate the law in order to face prosecution, has frustrated efforts by law enforcement to combat the problem of unlicensed gun dealing in America, a CNN investigation found.

Unlicensed dealers are a go-to source of firearms for criminals and others who can't pass the sort of background checks that licensed dealers are required to perform, according to a review of dozens of court cases and interviews with federal agents and prosecutors across the country.

Guns sold by unlicensed dealers often turn up in the hands of convicted felons, at crime scenes, and in police investigations, including cases of armed robbery and murder, CNN found. Some dealers continued their illegal sales even after receiving warnings from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

-snip-

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/25/us/unlicensed-gun-dealers-law-invs/index.html

[hack89]

1. My state has UBCs. Seems like a no brainer to me. nt

[ManiacJoe]

2. Removing the federal prohibition on non-dealer background checks would be a good start.

Prosecuting the illegal sales would be another good step.

[gejohnston]

3. the law isn't fuzzy at all.

If you are "flipping" guns for profit, you need an FFL. Under the original GCA, you could sell up to four per year. That created a problem for the guy/gal who inherited parent's gun collection and had no use for them.

Friend of mine bought a pistol off one these guys at a flea market. He asked a cop friend to run the serial number through NCIC, and came up reported stolen. The legal owner got his gun back, my friend is out five hundred bucks.

[Straw Man]

4. "Unlicensed dealers" is a euphemism for "criminals."

They already operate outside the law. To pretend otherwise is only useful if you're shilling for new laws.