"Maine guns for Mass. drugs" (March 14) was an excellent piece of journalism. Congratulations to Mark LaFlamme for his coverage of this topic. Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence has been working on this issue for a considerable time and applauds his work.
The National Rifle Association has argued that there is no such thing as a gun show loophole and, on its Web site, calls it a myth. Tell that to the victims of crime in Massachusetts and New York where Maine guns, obtained legally here, were used by felons in the commission of those crimes.
In Maine, as the article pointed out, only federally licensed gun dealers such as L.L. Bean or Cabela’s require background checks. What it didn’t mention is that 200 to 300 people each year fail those checks. But those who fail, including felons, can easily obtain guns through Uncle Henry’s, immediately and without a background check. Uncle Henry’s lists hundreds of guns for sale or trade every week.
LaFlamme does a good job of pointing out that responsible gun owners do not want to sell a gun that might end up being used in a homicide, but realistically there are only two solutions: the gun seller can, voluntarily, go through a licensed dealer for the sale, or Maine needs to tighten up its laws and require all sellers to do background checks.
Karen A. D’Andrea, director
Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, Portland
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The Second Ammendment for Idiots
Penn and Teller put it succinctly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNu7ldL1LM
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I have been to many gun shows, and to many differnt dealers at gun shows, and every deal i have gone to does a back ground check. So its hard to believe that there would be a gun show loophole!!! the uncle henrys thing is somewhat correct, but very rare that anyone wounldnt go threw a leagal look over before they have a gun sold to them.. No need to tighten up the laws more, just get rid of the people that are causeing problems.
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Private individuals may have background checks done and are encouraged to do so for the protections of all individials involved.
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The "gun show loophole" actually has nothing to do with gun shows and everything to do with personal sales.
It's not a loophole. If someone in Maine wants to sell their firearm to another person in Maine then they can do so. Background checks are done at dealers only.
You can go ahead and blame "loopholes" for crime if you want. I prefer to blame criminals for their actions and not the instruments they use to commit them.
You don't blame a knife for a stabbing, nor a car for a DUI. You also don't go through a tedious effort to trace down the origin of a knife or car used in a crime. Blame the person who perpetrated the crime.
Over 1 million background checks were performed in each of the last few months. That means that about 12 million guns are sold in the US per year. How many gun crimes happen relative to the number of guns? That is proof that the oustanding majority of people in the US are safely owning and using their firearms.
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"The National Rifle Association has argued that there is no such thing as a gun show loophole and, on its Web site, calls it a myth. Tell that to the victims of crime in Massachusetts and New York where Maine guns, obtained legally here, were used by felons in the commission of those crimes."
All victims of a crime in Mass and New York. The gun show loophole is a myth. There problem solved everyone can sleep easy.
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Felons do not by their guns at gun shows, through dealers or other public sdales, they do so privately, mostly through straw buyers who then sell the gun LEGALLY but privately and can claim they had no knoweledge of a criminal record of the buyer and still operate within the current laws. You want to fix the problem - simply make it ILLEGAL to have private sales of firearms and make them all go through a registered dealer/broker.
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Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence joined the National Rifle Association in publicly endorsing the Maine Gun Sellers Kit available from the US Department of Justice. The kit is available at usame.psn@usdoj.gov OR CALL (207) 771-3294.
Enforcement of current laws works. Selling firearms to prohibited persons puts the seller in serious civil and criminal jeopardy. Visit http://www.mainecwptraining.com/IMPORTANT_LINKS.html for important state and federal firearm laws.
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