CENTRE HALL, Pa. (WTAJ) – Since 1994, federal law has required people buying a gun to undergo a background check. But many buyers have circumvented this step by purchasing from an unlicensed dealer on the internet, at flea markets and at gun shows.
For many years gun control advocates have called this the “gun show loophole.”
“What it is, it’s basically a loophole for individuals who buy guns solely for the purpose of making money on them,” Thomas Engle, Owner of Hunters Warehouse said.
The Biden administration announced in April that they would expand on current laws. This will be the last step in implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and would eliminate the sale for guns without background checks of guns sold outside of brick-and-mortar stores, closing the “gun show loophole”. However, the changes will not impact the sale of personal collections.
Laws for firearm dealers were first established in 1938 with The Federal Firearms Act (FFA). This act made the notion that in order to deal firearms you must obtain a license. At the time the FFA defined a “dealer” of firearms as any person engaged in the business of selling firearms and ammunition. Congress repealed the FFA finding that it had not provided adequate license fees or proper standards for granting or denial of licenses.
Most recently, President Biden passed The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This act improved the background check system by broadening the definition of licensed gun dealers, enhanced background checks for buyers under age 21and made gun trafficking a federal offense.
One area where many guns are sold without background checks is at gun shows. And some say that gun shows are some of the safest places.
“Legal gun owners are very safe people, they’re upstanding citizens. This is a great place. This is not a scary place. You don’t need to worry about illegal activity happening here,” Therese Hollen, a Candidate for Pennsylvania State Representative for the 82nd District said.
“When you have responsible gun ownership, then your people are safer. I don’t have any place I feel safer than at one of these gun shows,” Pennsylvania State Senator Cris Dush said. “And it’s because we’ve got good, everyday citizens that are here not just exercising their right, but also examining how or what kind of equipment they can use to best defend themselves and their families.”
According to the Pennsylvania State Police in 2021 there were over 1.4 million background check requests. This was the second-highest volume since its inception in 1998. With a high number of background checks, some don’t believe more laws for background checks are not needed.
“Honestly, I don't think there should be any additional gun legislation passed. I'm of the opinion there are plenty,” Hollen said “There's plenty of gun legislation on the books. All we need to do is enforce the regulations that exist, and we'll be fine.”
For licensed gun dealers, background checks are the first step – and a priority – in a sale.
“I think that our gun owners in general should take a little responsibility in who they give it to. You should be doing a background check because you don't know who you sold the gun to,” Engle said.
Engle doesn't view closing the loophole as an attack on Second Amendment Rights but instead as a way to make sure that gun dealers are responsible for helping prevent crime.
“Any person that wants to engage in purchasing and for the purpose of resale, this is what this targets. It's not a gun show loophole, which everybody keeps talking about,” Engle said. “But it might stop the people that are intentionally breaking the law by buying for the purposes of resale.”
With the closure of the loophole, many believe that will have an economic impact as well as less attendance at gun shows.
“It's definitely going to have an economic impact and quite honestly, I think that's one of the two reasons, the two main reasons why the people want this. They want these things shut down to prevent people from having the ability to exercise their rights. And they want these businesses out of business,” Dush said.
States are pushing back against the changes. On May 1, the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In the lawsuit, it states that the states are “seeking a stay of agency action, temporary restraining order, and/or a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo, followed by a declaratory judgment and permanent injunctive relief restraining Defendants from enforcing a Final Rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the U.S. Department of Justice on April 19, 2024, entitled “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms”
The changes to the law are set to go into effect on May 20.