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Gun shows in the United States

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Houston gun show at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

A gun show is a temporary exhibition or gathering where guns, gun parts, gun accessories, ammunition, and gun literature, as well as knives, jerky, militaria, and miscellaneous collectibles are legally displayed, bought, sold, and discussed. Gun shows also often include exhibitions related to various types of hunting and the preparation and preservation of wild game for consumption. They also may be used by gun manufacturers to demonstrate new firearm models—or by gun enthusiasts to exhibit antique or unusual guns. Gun shows also serve as common and recurring meeting places for members of the gun culture. Michael Bouchard, Assistant Director/Field Operations of ATF, estimates that 5,000 gun shows take place each year in the United States.

Overview

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Gun shows are typically held in public buildings, including hotels, malls, armories, stadiums, etc., and are open to the public with a nominal fee charged for admittance. The number of tables at shows generally varies from as few as fifty to as many as two thousand tables. They are almost all two-day events held on weekends by a promoter who leases the large space, provides or rents the tables, and allows dealers to rent tables to show guns, knives, crafts, and wares, and/or demonstrate services they can provide. A large proportion of exhibitors typically do not sell guns or ammo at all, but instead sell accessories such as scopes, holsters, and tools such as pocketknives.

Most gun shows have 2,500 to 15,000 visitors over the two day period. At the largest gun shows, over 1,000 firearms are sold over two days. In the United States, gun shows are sometimes a venue for the sale of militaria and 'brought back' war trophies.

In recent years, gun shows have become controversial. Additionally, the scope of the right of private citizens to own firearms has become a topic of political debate. Those opposing gun shows argue that such shows contribute to illicit trafficking in firearms, whereas those supporting gun shows point to Second Amendment rights and existing regulations that are on the books which already govern the sale of firearms at gun shows.

Gun laws governing gun shows vary from state to state, and even within some states and within some metropolitan areas.

The gun show loophole

The term "gun show loophole" is a contentious term that describes the situation where convicted felons and other individuals who are prohibited under federal law from purchasing firearms can evade background checks by buying guns from private sellers at gun shows instead of from Federal Firearms Licensees, who are required by law to conduct such checks. Opponents of new legislation refute the assertion of gun control advocates, stating that there is no "loophole", only a long-standing tradition of free commerce between private parties that heretofore has not been restricted in the context of secondary sales in intrastate commerce. They also challenge Federal jurisdiction in intrastate transactions between private parties, which they say would exceed the Federal power created by the Commerce Clause.

United States federal law requires persons engaged in interstate firearm commerce, or who are in the business of dealing firearms, to hold a Federal Firearms License and to perform background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System prior to transferring a firearm. Under the terms of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, individuals who are "not engaged in the business" of dealing firearms, or who only make "occasional" sales within their state of residence, are under no requirement to conduct background checks on purchasers or maintain records of sale.

Private sellers are however still subject to state law. As of 2009, 17 states have taken some action to regulate private firearm sales at gun shows. Seven states require background checks on all gun sales at gun shows (California, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Oregon, New York, Illinois and Colorado). Four states (Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) require background checks on all handgun, but not long gun, purchasers at gun shows. Five states require individuals to obtain a permit to purchase handguns that involves a background check (Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, Nebraska). Certain counties in Florida require background on all private sales of handguns at gun shows. The remaining 33 states do not restrict private, intrastate sales of firearms at gun shows in any manner..

The ATF has reported that between 50% and 75% of the vendors at gun shows possess a Federal Firearms License. Remaining vendors may sell a variety of firearm and non-firearm items.

Research and Studies on Gun Shows

A Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report on “Firearms Use by Offenders” found that 0.8% of prison inmates reported acquiring firearms used in their crimes "At a gun show," with repeat offenders less likely than first-time offenders to report acquiring firearms from a retail source, gun show or flea market. This 2001 study examined data from a 1997 Department of Justice survey of more than 18,000 federal and state prison inmates in 1,409 State prisons and 127 Federal prisons.. The remaining 99.2% of inmates reported obtaining firearms from other sources, including "From a friend/family member" (36.8%), "Off the street/from a drug dealer" (20.9%), "From a fence/black market source" (9.6%), "From a pawnshop," "From a flea market," "From the victim," or "In a burglary." 9% of inmates replied "Don't Know/Other" to the question of where they acquired a firearm and 4.4% refused to answer. The Department of Justice did not attempt to verify the firearms reported in the survey or trace them to determine their chain of possession from original retail sale to the time they were transferred to the inmates surveyed (in cases where inmates were not the original retail purchaser).

In 2000, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) published the "Following the Gun" report. The ATF analyzed more 1,530 trafficking investigations over a two-and-a-half-year period and found gun shows to be the second leading source of illegally diverted guns in the nation (behind only corrupt federally licensed dealers). These investigations involved a total of 84,128 firearms that had been diverted from legal to illegal commerce. All told, the report identified more than 26,000 firearms that had been illegally trafficked through gun shows in 212 separate investigations. The report stated that: "A prior review of ATF gun show investigations shows that prohibited persons, such as convicted felons and juveniles, do personally buy firearms at gun shows and gun shows are sources of firearms that are trafficked to such prohibited persons. The gun show review found that firearms were diverted at and through gun shows by straw purchasers, unregulated private sellers, and licensed dealers. Felons were associated with selling or purchasing firearms in 46 percent of the gun show investigations. Firearms that were illegally diverted at or through gun shows were recovered in subsequent crimes, including homicide and robbery, in more than a third of the gun show investigations."

Dr. Garen Wintemute, Director of UC Davis’ Violence Prevention Research Program, released a study in 2007 that found that gun shows are a venue for illegal activity, including straw purchases and unlicensed sales to prohibited individuals. Wintemute attended 28 gun shows in California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Florida; took hundreds of photographs; and catalogued 25 definite straw purchases. Outside of California, observed private party sales were about equal in number to sales involving licensed firearm dealers. Wintemute found that only 30% of vendors at the shows were identifiable as licensed dealers; observed illegally activity was more common at gun shows in states that fail to regulate gun shows; and there was little police presence at the shows. The study stated, “These findings suggest a basis for action by policymakers to regulate gun shows and prohibit undocumented private party gun sales.”

In 2008, professors Mark Duggan and Randi Hjalmarsson at the University of Maryland and Brian Jacob from the University of Michigan released a study that found no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun homicides or gun suicides. The study looked at 2,200 gun shows in Texas and almost 1,200 gun shows in California during the period of 1994-2004 and examined their effect on gun homicide and gun suicide rates within a 25-mile radius of the shows in the four weeks immediately following their conclusion. The authors stated that, “Taken together, our results suggest that gun shows do not increase the number of homicides or suicides and that the absence of gun show regulations does not increase the number of gun-related deaths as proponents of these regulations suggest.”

ATF Criminal Investigations at Gun Shows

From 2004 to 2006, ATF conducted surveillance and undercover investigations at 195 gun shows (approximately 2% of all shows). Specific targeting of suspected individuals (77%) resulted in 121 individual arrests and 5,345 firearms seizures. Seventy nine of the 121 ATF operation plans were known suspects previously under investigation.

Additionally, ATF Field Offices report that:

  • Between 2002 and 2005, more than 400 guns legally purchased at gun shows from licensed dealers in the city of Richmond, Virginia, were later recovered in connection with criminal activity. Bouchard notes that, "These figures do not take into account firearms that may have been sold at Richmond area gun shows by unlicensed sellers, as these transactions are more difficult to track." It is noteworthy that the "in connection with criminal activity" category includes stolen guns later recovered from burglaries, but the report does not specify how many guns in the 400 gun figure cited were not guns used in the commission of a crime, but that were rather the fruits of criminal activity.
  • The Department of Justice reports, "after reviewing hundreds of trace reports associated with guns used in crime recovered in the area and interviewing known gang members and other criminals, ATF Special Agents identified area gun shows as a source used by local gang members and other criminals to obtain guns."
  • In 2003 and 2004, the San Francisco ATF Field Division conducted six general operations at Reno, Nevada, guns shows to investigate interstate firearms trafficking. During these operations, "agents purchased firearms and identified violations related to "off paper" sales, sales to out-of-state residents, and dealing in firearms without a license." The "ATF seized or purchased 400 firearms before making arrests and executing search warrants, which resulted in the seizure of an additional 600 firearms and the recovery of explosives."
  • ATF's Columbus Field Division conducted its anti-trafficking operations based on intelligence from Cleveland police that "many of the guns recovered in high-crime areas of the city had been purchased at local gun shows." Subsequent gun show sting operations resulted in the seizure of "5 guns, one indictment, and two pending indictments for felony possession of a firearm." The state of Ohio is one of the top ten source states for recovered guns used in crime.
  • The ATF's Phoenix Field Division reported that "many gun shows attracted large numbers of gang members from Mexico and California. They often bought large quantities of assault weapons and smuggled them into Mexico or transported them to California." Garen Wintemute, a professor at the University of California at Davis, calls Arizona and Texas a "gunrunner's paradise."

Regarding the trafficking of firearms from the U.S. into Mexico, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in June 2009 which stated: “While it is impossible to know how many firearms are illegally smuggled into Mexico in a given year, about 87 percent of firearms seized by Mexican authorities and traced in the last 5 years originated in the United States, according to data from Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). According to U.S. and Mexican government officials, these firearms have been increasingly more powerful and lethal in recent years. Many of these firearms come from gun shops and gun shows in Southwest border states.”

The GAO report has been corroborated through other sources. William Newell, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Phoenix Field Division, testified before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee in March 2009, stating, “Drug traffickers are able to obtain firearms and ammunition more easily in the U.S., including sources in the secondary market such as gun shows and flea markets. Depending on State law, the private sale of firearms at those venues often does not require record keeping or background checks prior to the sale.” The ATF has also reported that, “Trends indicate the firearms illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are becoming more powerful. ATF has analyzed firearms seizures in Mexico from FY 2005-07 and identified the following weapons most commonly used by drug traffickers: 9mm pistols; .38 Super pistols; 5.7mm pistols; .45-caliber pistols; AR-15 type rifles; and AK-47 type rifles.”

Claims of American-purchased firearms being the primary source for Mexican criminal gangs and drug cartels have been questioned. While many of the traceable weapons come from the U.S., some believe the vast majority of weapons being used by the cartels come from other sources. According to Raul Benitez, a security expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, "Mexico's southern border with Guatemala has long been an entry point for such weapons and today could account for 10 to 15 percent coming through." William La Jeunesse and Maxim Lott have described Mexico as a "virtual arms bazaar," where one can purchase a wide variety of military weapons from international sources: "fragmentation grenades from South Korea, AK-47s from China, and shoulder-fired rocket launchers from Spain, Israel and former Soviet bloc manufacturers." In addition, the Mexican drug cartels have long-established drug- and gun-running ties with Latin American revolutionary movements such as Colombia's FARC. Further, China has supplied military arms to Latin America and Chinese-made assault weapons have been recovered in Mexico, according to Amnesty International. Finally, the Mexican army has seen rampant desertion rates (150,000 in the last six years) and many soldiers have taken their weapons home with them, including Belgian-made M16s.

Additionally, it would be difficult for the Mexican drug cartels to acquire fully automatic weapons at American gun shows. To purchase or transfer such a weapon legally, US citizens must pay a $200 transfer tax, submit a full set of fingerprints on FBI Form FD-258, obtain certification provided by a chief law enforcement officer ("CLEO": the local chief of police, sheriff of the county, head of the State police, or State or local district attorney or prosecutor), and obtain final approval from the BATF on a Form 4 transfer of NFA registration to the new owner.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Oversight of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Part 2: Gun Show Enforcement" (PDF). Hearings before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, 109th Congress, 2d Session, February 28, 2006.
  2. ^ "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Investigative Operations at Gun Shows" (PDF). US Department of Justice.
  3. ^ "Gun Shows: Brady Checks and Crime Gun Traces" (PDF). Washington, DC: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
  4. "The Oregon Gun Show Controversy". AP. 10-12-2000. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. "Greens target gun show". The Journal Times. 11-08-2004. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. Richey, Warren (2007-11-21). "U.S. Supreme Court takes up gun-rights case". The Christian Science Monitor.
  7. "Mexico has gripe of its own about U.S. Gun smugglers". AP. 5-03-1997. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ""Americans for Gun Safety:" Shamelessly Manipulating Acts Of War To Promote Political Agenda". NRA-ILA. 2001-10-26.
  9. "hsgac.senate.gov" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-07-29.
  10. http://lawreview.law.wfu.edu/documents/issue.43.837.pdf
  11. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba349
  12. http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5090952.shtml
  13. "2008 Brady Campaign State Scorecard" (PDF).
  14. "The Gun Show Loophole: Frequently Asked questions" (web).
  15. Caroline Wolf Harlow, Firearm Use by Offenders (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Nov. 6, 2001)
  16. ^ "US Department of Justice, Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, Firearm Use By Offenders" (PDF). DoJ.
  17. ""Following the Gun"" (PDF). ATF. June 2000.
  18. ""Gun Shows Across a Multistate American Gun Market: Observational Evidence of the Effects of Regulatory Policies"". Garen Wintemute. May 8, 2007.
  19. ""The Effect of Gun Shows on Gun-Related Deaths: Evidence from California and Texas"" (PDF). Mark Duggan, Randi Hjalmarsson, and Brian A. Jacob. September 2008.
  20. "U.S. Guns Behind Cartel Killings in Mexico". Manuel Roig-Franzia, The Washington Post.
  21. "Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges" (PDF). U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
  22. "Statement of William Newell, Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division of the ATF, Before the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies" (PDF). U.S. House Appropriations Committee.
  23. "ATF Fact Sheet: Project Gunrunner". U.S. Embassy in Mexico.
  24. http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0408/p06s19-woam.html
  25. ^ "The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S." FOXNews.com. April 02, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  26. "(M15) What are the required transfer procedures for an individual who is not qualified as a manufacturer, importer, or dealer of NFA firearms?". Firearms frequently asked questions. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  27. "(M18) What law enforcement officials' certifications on an application to transfer or make an NFA weapon are acceptable to ATF?". Firearms frequently asked questions. Retrieved 2008-04-24.

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