How difficult is it for criminals, the mentally ill, and drug abusers to buy guns in Arizona?
We sent undercover investigators with hidden cameras to find out, and the answer is: not difficult at all. Just 15 days after the horrible tragedy in Tucson, our investigators found that people who may be prohibited by federal law from purchasing guns can nevertheless buy them as easily as a hamburger with fries at the local McDonald's.
The investigators visited a Phoenix gun show as a follow-up to a 2009 undercover investigation we conducted at gun shows across Ohio, Tennessee, and Nevada. In that investigation, we found out just how easy it is for criminals and the mentally ill to walk in and buy guns - no questions asked. It called attention to a huge loophole in the law that enables criminals and other dangerous people like drug abusers and the mentally ill to get guns without having to go through a background check.
Since then, four of the seven gun shows we investigated have decided to require background checks for all gun sales. At the time of the investigation, those four gun shows hosted 198 private sellers who were offering 2,600 firearms for sale in just one weekend. Furthermore, ATF has now investigated one of the unlicensed gun dealers we caught on camera making illegal sales in Nevada, and they seized a stockpile of 800 guns he was keeping at his house in Mesa, Arizona.
It's great news that four of the seven gun shows from the initial investigation have decided to change their practices. But the reality is that the practice of selling to prohibited purchasers is widespread, as we saw again at a gun show in Arizona.
Screenshot from video showing an unlicensed private seller making an illegal sale to an undercover investigator, January 23 Crossroads of the West Gun Show, Phoenix, AZ.
Our investigators went to the Crossroads of the West gun show in Phoenix. You can watch the undercover videos and ask Congress to close the loopholes in our gun background check system at gunshowundercover.org.
The investigation sought to answer two simple questions:
First, how easy is it to buy a gun without a background check?
It's easy. At the gun show, an investigator bought - with no background check - a Glock 19 with an extended magazine, similar to the gun Jared Loughner allegedly used to kill six and wound 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Unfortunately, under current federal laws, that sale was legal.
The second question we ask was would private sellers sell guns to people who said they probably couldn't pass a background check?
Again, the answer was yes. An investigator bought two handguns from two different private sellers, even after they said they probably couldn't pass a background check.
This fits the pattern of illegal activity at gun shows that we uncovered in 2009 - and it's all the more frustrating that it's happening just a little more than a hundred miles away from Tucson.
An undercover investigator holding a Glock 19 with a 33-round magazine purchased without a background check at the January 23 Crossroads of the West Gun Show, Phoenix, AZ.
In 2009, 19 out of 30 private sellers made the sale in spite of the law, which says even private sellers are prohibited from selling to anyone they have reason to suspect could not pass a background check. This time, two private sellers in Arizona did the same thing.
We did these investigations for two reasons: to expose a glaring gap in the nation's gun laws, and to urge Congress to take notice - and take action. Unfortunately, they've done nothing to close this deadly loophole in our background checks.
Last week, our coalition announced a new plan to fix gaps and close loopholes in our nation's gun laws. Visit gunshowundercover.org to watch today's new videos and ask Congress to finally take action.
As I said after our first investigation in 2009, the vast majority of gun buyers at gun shows are law abiding citizens. Requiring background checks on all gun sales will not detract from anyone's Second Amendment rights. What it will do is send the message that we're no longer going to make it easy for criminals to get around the law.
Visit gunshowundercover.org.
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I watched an outdoor gun show in one of the southern states that allowed people to pay to shoot just about anything weapon that had ever been made.
Between empty casings and empty beer cans you could not see a blade of grass…
The answer is equally applicable to civilians who wish to have a firearm for self defense.
Which begs the question, why is the, per capita, murder rate in the US 10 times higher than Canada's and yet higher than in France, England, Germany, Spain to name just a few.
You could ask that same question without going outside the U.S.: Why is the murder rate in Maryland nearly ten times the rate in Vermont, Utah, or New Hampshire? Maryland has strict gun laws, so that can't be, right?
PS: It's not "10 times", not even close.
We'll never be able to stop the criminals from getting their hands on guns but we can make it more difficult for them to buy them legally. More thorough background checks with a waiting period would help keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them. People who have nothing to hide shouldn't mind if they have to wait a few days to be checked out.
Lets get back to the new guns laws that you want to start. How many people do you think it will save or guns it will keep from the hands of the bad guys. Well guess what the CDC in a massive report said no gun law can be shown to have had any impact on gun crime. So I know I know you feel it will work and that is all that is needed for you but I want some concrete evidence before you infringe anymore. As for Bloomberg the Yard gnome I am waiting for one of these states to try and get him on some charges and arrest him.
Also just a point a retired ATF agent agrees no gun laws were broken in the video.
Which, if you research the origins of gun control, makes complete sense. Sullivan's Act was the first gun control measure passed, ironically enough in New York by a State Senator. He was paid off by criminals who made a living from strong armed robbery of civilians. The criminals feared an armed citizen that might defend himself against the attack and decided to buy off State Senator Timothy Sullivan in order for legislation to be passed which would make it a felony to carry a handgun without a permit. The criminals continued their armed robberies, the citizens became defenseless.
The year after the law was passed, gun murders rose 50% in New York. This law has never been repealed.
Completely apart from their pie-in-the-sky ideas is the fact that one of the most important things about our founding was that the founders never wanted the people to be defenseless against a tyrannical and overreaching Govt and properly thought to put protections for owning firearms in the founding documents.
The fact that this video prompts people to present evidence against gun control is beyond me. Why not common sense control? It's easier to buy a gun with bullets than it is to buy a car and legally drive it.
No strict gun law will work as long as there is a black market and smugglers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353789/Bloomberg-spends-245-000-employing-THREE-cooks-Gracie-Mansion.html