Illegal Gun Purchase Research Paper

Stagliano 1
Laurene Stagliano
Ms. Catherine Piela
Comp 101
29 November 2010

Illegal Gun Purchases in the United States For years, people in the United States of America have been allowed to own firearms. This was a right given to them by the constitution, and if the person met all the requirements for a gun. But, within the last couple of years people who are not legally allowed to own a gun in the United States have found different ways in which to obtain one. Some ways in which people are able get guns appears to be perfectly legal, but when looked at closely it can be seen that this way of purchasing is not so legal. The ways in which people are able to illegally obtain guns is through gun shows, private sellers and the black market.
I personally believe that the illegal selling of guns within the United States is a major problem that needs to be solved. Some states have tried to close the gun show loophole by trying to take control of gun shows and say when and where they are allowed I personally, think laws should be changed so that people are not able to get guns so easily in the United States. One of the most recent and biggest gun laws in the United States is the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. This act made it so that licensed gun sellers had to wait at least five days to sell a gun to a person, during this time the gun seller was required to perform a background check on the purchaser. Although this law helped solve problems with background checks for licensed gun sellers, there was still the problem that private gun sellers were not
Stagliano 2 affected by this new law.
This means that if a person was to go to a private gun seller, they could easily get a gun the same day without having a background check performed on them. A major problem as of right now with this act is that it has just expired, making it so that licensed gun sellers no longer have to perform background checks at gun shows. Other laws that have helped put a stop to the illegal sales of firearms are the Firearms Owner’s Protection Act of 1986. This act made it so that it was illegal to buy assault weapons from gun sellers. This act went into effect because for some time people where able to go to gun shows and buy an assault weapon that is normally used by the military for their own personal use. The name of the act that listed the people who are not allowed to own firearms is called Omnibus Crime Control & Safe Streets and the Federal Gun Control Acts of 1968. This act made it so that people could not receive guns through the mail or have them imported. This act also banned the selling of guns to convicted felons, drug addicts, illegal aliens, and to people who are not considered to be mentally competent. These laws have helped put a stop to the illegal purchases of guns in the United States, but it did not solve all of the ways in which people where able to illegally obtain a gun. One of the main ways in which people are able to purchase a gun without a waiting period or background check is through the gun shows. This is a big loophole in the United
States now more than ever. This is mainly because the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act has just now expired. So even licensed gun sellers at gun shows no longer have to perform background checks on purchasers. It has been proven statistically that guns bought at gun shows are mainly used in crimes. One of the biggest examples of the gun show loophole in the United States was the Columbine Shooting. This was a school shooting that took place in Jefferson County, Colorado.
Stagliano 3
What happened was that two students went into the school with automatic machine guns and killed and injured a large number of students, and then turned the guns on themselves and committed suicide. The guns that were used in this shooting were bought a couple of weeks prior at a local gun show that took place. The two shooters had one of their friends go to the gun show to purchase the guns for them. The main reason they had a friend purchase the guns, was because they were not of age to purchase the guns and did not want to bring any attention to themselves. This incident brought the attention of the gun show loophole to the attention of all the American people, and helped to further gun control. The main reason that gun shows are one of the key places to illegally purchase a gun is because they have so many private gun sellers that do not have to perform background checks. Another main way to illegally purchase a gun in the United States is from an unlicensed gun seller.
The main place that unlicensed sellers appear is at gun shows that happen throughout the United States. What happens most of the time is the person will get a booth and then advertise the fact that they do not perform background checks on people and that all a person will have to do is give their name and age. This kind of advertising catches the attention of people who are not legally allowed to own a gun. Another way private sellers try to sell their guns is going to a gun show and handing out fliers that advertise that they will sell a person a gun without a background check. The only thing that the person has to do then is to call the
person and then meet them at a designated meeting area to obtain the gun. The worst part of advertising guns in newspapers is the fact that most of the newspapers that private sellers use are papers that are against the illegal selling of guns.

Stagliano 4 The last major way a person is able to purchase a gun without a background check, is through the black market. Most of the guns that are sold through the black market are guns that were stolen, bought from private sellers, gifts from family members, and guns that were used in criminal activities. One of the main problems with guns bought from the black market is that when they are picked up from a crime scene it is almost impossible to trace the gun back to the owner. This is because normally a gun has a serial number on it that can trace the gun to the shop it was bought and then person who bought it. However, when a gun is bought through the black market it has either been stolen or has been purchased by so many people that it can no longer be traced back to the owner. But, the main reason the black market is one of the major ways in which people are able to illegally obtain guns is because there are no questions asked. If the person has enough money to buy the gun or guns that they want then they are either given the gun on the spot or the guns are delivered to a location specified by the buyer. Overall I have proven to you there is a large market in which a person is able to illegally purchase guns and for the reasons stated I believe that there should be new laws made in order to stop these illegal purchases.