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The Gun Show Loophole’s Newest Fans – Al Qaida

Posted by: Linda Carbonell on June 4, 2011.

06-04-2011 by Linda S. Carbonell

First it was our own criminals and mental patients. They discovered that gun shows don’t do background checks, so they started buying guns at gun shows.

Then, it was the Mexican drug cartels. They figured out that the easiest way to get guns that were illegal in Mexico was to send some money to someone in America with instructions to go to gun shows. Since all the attention at the border is on those coming into the United States, not those going out, the smuggling was fairly easy.

Now, it’s al Qaida who have figured out the gun show loophole to what little the United States has in the way of gun control.

As far back as October of 2009, in a story in USA Today, the alarms have been going off about the gun show loophole – the way gun show sellers are not required to do background checks or are too lazy to be bothered even if the computer terminals for instant checks are available. Many don’t even bother to check identifications at all, or limit the amount of guns sold. Why should they? It’s not their responsibility to limit anyone’s second amendment rights.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a group of big city mayor trying to get the loophole closed because it is the method by which people acquire guns that are illegal in their cities. They have been conducting a sting operation at gun shows around the country to expose the danger. Their hidden camera tapes show people buying guns even after telling the sellers that they probably couldn’t pass a background check. The mayors’ efforts are echoed by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The television networks have highlighted the problem as has the editorial pages of scores of newspapers. The issue was brought up again after the Tucson tragedy.

There have been several attempts in congress to close the loophole. Naturally, the National Rifle Association has opposed it and pressured the legislators that it has contributed to to quash the bills. There is need for additional legislation to address a gaping hole in the background check system which is in place and used by licensed dealers. People who are on the terrorist watch lists – those who cannot get on an airplane – are not on the background check list. An Associated Press investigation showed that more than 200 people on the watch list legally bought guns last year. Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois tried to get an amendment closing that loophole onto the recently re-authorized Patriot Act, but it was voted down. The NRA opposed that one as well.

Now, the proponents of closing the loopholes have a new friend – al Qaida.

A videotape has been released for North America’s aspiring jihadis in which Adam Gadahn tells them how easy it is to obtain guns. Gadahn tells them “America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So, what are you waiting for?”

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System has stopped the sale of guns to almost 1.8 million criminals and others who are prohibited from buying guns. It has a deterrent factor and makes people who shouldn’t buy guns less likely to try to buy them from legitimate sources. But only 60% of all gun sales in America are conducted in licensed gun shops. The other 40% are private home sales and gun shows.

A recent investigation showed that those who are purchasing guns for Mexican cartels are walking away from gun shows with dozens of weapons at a time. If the people running these sales and selling these weapons had an ounce of common sense, they’d know these are not people buying guns for their own use. Who the hell needs a dozen automatic weapons?

Only six states (California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island) have closed the loophole at gun shows. Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania require background checks on handguns at gun shows. Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina and Nebraska require permits and a background check before a handgun sale. Florida does it on a county by county basis. Thirty-three states have no laws about background checks at gun shows. (Okay, my Vermont lege is recessed for the year. This will have to wait until next session. Honestly, this is an stupid oversight on our part because we know there are other things about this state that attract criminals from the flatlands.)

I’m not opposed to gun ownership, hunting or target shooting. I’m actually a crack shot, trained by my Dad, who taught riflery during World War II. I agree with my former governor Howard Dean, gun control has to be a local decision based on the local culture. But there are some parts of it that need to be national, and background checks to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from acquiring weapons, a better system for getting people on the no-sale list for mental reasons, banning guns and magazines that serve no purpose except to kill people, limiting the number of guns that can be purchased at one location at one time – all these things have to be national.

The National Rifle Association has draped itself in the Second Amendment for years, no matter what tragedies have occurred. It has managed to divert attention from the fact that it sanctions the sale of weapons by people who have no conscience or morality about who they sell to or how the weapons will be used.. It should be interesting seeing how the NRA manages the PR on supporting the unfettered sale of weapons to terrorists.

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7 Responses to The Gun Show Loophole’s Newest Fans – Al Qaida

  1. TimFromLA Reply

    June 5, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    OH MY GAWD AL QAEDA CAN BUY GUNS??? Well, if Arizona and states that allow private party purchases, so long as you you have a drivers license (create a fake address without the P.O. Box designation at mailboxes etc., ), go to the DMV, gert a drivers license, show it to the dealer and voila, you have a sniper rifle! voila, you have a pistol! Voila, you have a semi-auto Norinco! Voila you have a .50 caliber barrett! Voila you have a glock 45, 9, 50!

    With the extensive background check of “terrorists” by the Bush administration, would it be hard to regulate private party background checks, make doubly sure that the address is NOT a P.O. Box and that the purchaser is NOT a terrorist? Won’t work? Second Amendment? Guess what, it could have:

    Suspect in Shooting of Giffords Ruled Unfit for Trial
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26loughner.html?_r=1

    But you’re saying that’s after the fact. But wait.

    Jared Loughner unable to enlist in Army because of drug use
    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/loughner-unable-to-enlist-in-a.html

    Even the Army knew he was nuts. And it was in his record. So why didn’t AZ prevent him from purchasing a gun? Because thre is no regulation to do so. And if there was, he could always buy it at a Private Party Purchase. So maybe it”s time to regulate guns sales…that is unless you want AL QAEDA to purchase guns

  2. jimg9x21 Reply

    June 5, 2011 at 11:42 am

    It is obvious that the author, Linda Carbonell, hasn’t ever been to a gun show. Forget for a second there isn’t a “gun show loophole” but only the ability for private citizens to sell their legal property to other private citizens (think selling your car to another person). Many studies, including those from the FBI, have shown repeatedly that criminals do not get their weapons from gun shows. As for the mentally challenged (you have to be careful how you define this term as there are many that might qualify depending on who is providing the definition), The VT shooter (nut job by anybody’s definition), the Tucson shooter (another nut job) and the two shooters at Columbine did not get their guns with “gun shows loopholes”. The Columbine shooters relied on a straw purchaser that passed the background check but did not use a “gun show loophole”, the other two bought theirs legally, with background checks.
    Back to the original point about the author, if she had visited a gun show she would have notice the absences of terrorists. Al Qaida isn’t going to walk into a gun show unnoticed, trust me.
    As far as the Mexico connection, the author might want to check with the ATF about their “Fast and Furious” program where they allow thousands of guns to “walk” across the border under the guise of running a sting operation (without the sting). If the ATF thought gun shows were the source, they would have focused on them rather than gun dealers.
    I sometimes feel sorry for gun control folks in that they simply don’t have any facts to base their arguments on and the more they rely on this misinformation, the more they become irrelevant. No need to thank me for the advice.

    • TimFromLA

      June 5, 2011 at 1:56 pm

      New Al Qaeda Video: American Muslims Should Buy Guns, Start Shooting People
      http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/al-qaeda-video-buy-automatic-weapons-start-shooting/story?id=13704264

      Correction Paula, the ATF is NOT selling guns to Al Qaida, U.S. entrepreneurs are. And if you look at Adam Pearlman, you’ll realize that he ain’t dark-skinned! HE’S A JEWISH/CHRISTIAN TURNED MUSLIM!!!!!

      So much for Adam Pearlman having to buy guns. Wouldn’t a background check/10 day waiting period help? With the database of all the terrorists, you would think that this would be resolved?

  3. Dave Robertson Reply

    June 5, 2011 at 8:38 am

    No gun laws, state or federal, are ever suspended at gun shows. Gun laws exist regardless of time or place. It is no easier for anyone to buy any gun at a gun show than anywhere else. As a matter of fact, it’s probably MORE difficult for criminals to buy guns at gun shows, due to the large number of local, state, and federal LEO’s roaming the shows in search of illegal purchases and prohibited buyers.

    You really need to do better research, Ms. Carbonell. Your little rant is so stupid and misinformed that it’s almost humorous.

    • Dave Robertson

      June 5, 2011 at 1:09 pm

      Well, Paula, given that Gadahn has renounced his U.S. citizenship and is a known terrorist living in Pakistan, I seriously doubt that I’ll see him at a gun show in the U.S. anytime soon. But I thank you for that keen bit of advice.

    • TimFromLA

      June 5, 2011 at 1:44 pm

      Oooo, was Adam Responsible for 9/11??? Adam Pearlman I’m sure you’re talking about. You know, the Jewish turned Christian guy? I thought Al Qaeda hated Jews? Ooo, maybe this war isn’t a war on religion or freedom as Bush mentioned, but a war on occupier? Hey. because of regulations, Pearlman cannot buy a firearm. But if I were mentally unstable or a terrorist or a criminal, or a felon who wanted to exact revenge, I can

      01) Buy a mailboxes Etc. P.O. Box (again, they don’t have P.O. box)
      02) Get a drivers’ license or a state I.D.
      03) Look up gun sales in the recycler or Penny Saver with the acronym P.P. (Private Party)
      04) Purchase a firearm
      05) And have my way.

      Should there then not be regulations to prevent this? AZ chooses not to do so because of the 10th Amendment, but if the BATF is lobbied, then maybe Gabby Giffords wouldn’t have to be in the hospital and the dead were still alive.

  4. Bren Reply

    June 5, 2011 at 7:43 am

    Do you seriously not even know how much of what you have written is completely false? From the fact that the law regarding background checks is exactly the same at gun hsows as it is at a gun shop, to the fact there is nowhere in America where you can buy a machinegun without a full background check, registration, etc., with the federal government – it wouldn’t even be possible to do the transfer during a gun show and transferring the gun illegally would send both the buyer and seller to a federal prison. Did you do no research at all before writing this, or did you intend to lie?

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