How Many Guns Bought Using the Gun Show Loophole Have Actually Been?

How many guns bought using the gun show loophole have actually been used in gun crimes? How do supporters of closing that loophole expect it to be enforced? Isn’t that law a toothless tiger?

While many have noted that the gun show loophole is a myth, it seems that few know how the myth got started. In May 1997, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice released the results of a study conducted in 1994 by Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig. The publication was named Guns in America. National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms. The study surveyed 2,568 adults 18 year of age and older and was long and fairly detailed. The gun show loophole myth has its roots in just two of the questions asked. The first was had the survey participant acquired a firearm in the past two years (i.e. 1992, 1993 or 1994). The second question asked how the firearm was acquired. 60% of those surveyed said t bought the gun from a gun shop, pawn shop or other licensed firearms retailer, such as a sporting goods store. Since 100% minus 60% equals 40%, that’s where the number comes from. There are variations on the myth, including “40% of guns bought at gun shows” or 40% of guns obtained without a background check” and similar variations on that theme. Those who preach the myth often don’t have any idea where it originated or perhaps know it was a Department of Justice study. In all my years of debating gun issues, I have never encountered anyone who knew the facts, although I have encountered some who refused to believe it even when I gave them the source where t could obtain their own copy. The truth is that out of the 2,568 participants, just 251 said t had bought a gun in the past two years and could say, at least vaguely, how it was acquired. Even one of the authors, Professor Philip Cook, one of the study authors, said that the data from that response was not statistically viable, but it has been enshrined in the discussion, anyway. So here’s the actual breakdown. 43% said t got the gun at a gun store. 6% said t bought it from a pawn shop. 11% said t went to another type of retail store. 17% said the gun was a gift or purchase from a family member. 12% said it was a gift or purchase from a friend. 3% said t got it through the mail, which probably means t ordered it by mail and picked it up at a licensed dealer because federal law has prohibited anyone except a federally licensed firearms dealer from using the mail to ship firearms. 4% said t got the gun somewhere else or couldn’t remember. Just 4% of those responding said t bought their gun at a gun show. Incidentally, there was no breakdown of whether the gun show purchases were from a licensed firearms dealer or from a private individual so the actual percentage of unlicensed sales is probably lower. Studies of prison and jail inmates have found that about 2% of guns used by criminals were obtained at gun shows. Moving on to the 40% with no background check myth, the study question covered the period from late 1992 to late 1994. The Brady Act did not go into effect until February 1994, meaning that all sales prior to that, even from gun dealers, didn’t involve a background check unless it was required by state law. Myth busted - by its own source, the U.S. Department of Justice. By the way, both Professor Cook and Professor Ludwig are big fans of gun control but I have simply related exactly what t wrote and said. I have a copy of the study and have read the entire survey questionnaire. Many people use the myth to call for federally mandated background checks on all firearm transfers. Whether it’s a solution or a snake oil remedy, there’s a problem. Under the U.S. Constitution, the federal government does not have the authority to regulate intrastate private sales between two residents of the same state. The feds can, and do, regulate interstate commerce, but within the boundaries of a sovereign state, the state is the sole authority. Important note. It is federal offense for a resident of one state to sell a firearm to a resident of another state. Such sales must be processed through a federally licensed dealer. Even in states that have enacted background checks for private sales, generally by requiring t be processed through a licensed dealer, certain transfers are exempt. These include gifts and sales between family members, which based on the 1997 study accounted for 17% of all transfers. So one in six transactions still wouldn’t require a check. So there isn’t a loophole; there has never been a loophole and the alarmist statements made about gun show loopholes are, in fact, lies.