From POINT, CLICK, FIRE: AN INVESTIGATION OF ILLEGAL ONLINE GUN SALES by The City of New York:
While federal law does not require them to conduct checks, private sellers cannot sell guns to a person they know to be, or have reason to believe may be, a prohibited purchaser.
The evidence that online sales pose a threat to public safety is mounting. Sales conducted over the internet have been connected to mass shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, the murder of police officers, illegal sales to minors, domestic gun trafficking operations and Mexican drug cartels.
In 2011, the City of New York launched an unprecedented undercover investigation of private firearms sales online. Our investigators set out to determine whether private sellers advertising guns for sale on the internet are complying with federal law by refusing to sell to people who could not pass a background check.
- 62 percent of private gun sellers agreed to sell a firearm to a buyer who said he probably couldn’t pass a background check.
- City investigators posing as illegal purchasers asked five of these sellers to meet in person and exchange the guns for cash. All five agreed. The investigators bought four handguns and a semi-automatic assault rifle while recording the transaction with hidden cameras.
- Private sellers on Craigslist had the highest failure rate – roughly 82 percent – even though the site has a policy prohibiting firearms listings. The City also investigated unlicensed sellers on Armslist (54% failure rate), Gunlistings (77% failure rate), KSL.com (67% failure rate) and Glocktalk (78% failure rate).
The private sale loophole and the private-sector failures that enable too many unscrupulous individuals to sell guns online, and too many dangerous people to buy them, should be reformed. It is entirely possible to do so without restraining the legal trade in firearms among law-abiding sellers and buyers.
Via Think Progress and The Rachel Maddow Show.
And let’s not forget this frightening, deadly fact:
Virginia Tech Shooting Sad Reminder: America’s Gun Love Kills 10,000 Each Year