Senators Push to Close The Gun Show Loophole

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Omar Samaha’s sister Reema was among those gunned down at Virginia Tech in April 2007 when Seng-Hui Cho rampaged through classrooms with two semi-automatic pistols. In the shootings’ aftermath, many were shocked to learn that Cho, with a long history of psychiatric problems, was able to obtain his weapons legally. Although Cho purchased his guns from licensed dealers, the Virginia Tech killings brought new scrutiny to Virginia’s gun-show loophole: unlike larger, licensed dealers that sell in large quantities, small, unlicensed dealers are free to sell weapons at gun shows without completing background checks. And whereas many small dealers will do background checks anyway, many don’t, creating an obvious opporunity for buyers who might not otherwise qualify to own weapons.

Omar Samaha recently drove this home when, accompanied by a film crew from ABC News, he purchased ten firearms at a Virginia gun show in under an hour without undergoing any background checks. Last year, in a similar exercise, I attempted to purchase an assault rifle at gun show in Fishersville, Virginia, but was unable to do so based on my DC residency. But had I lied about my residency or produced a fake license, I might just as easily have walked out with one.

With a new administration in Washington, some Senate Democrats are making a new push to close the gun show loophole. Joined by Omar Samaha, several others affected by the Virginia Tech shootings, and the Brady Campaign’s Paul Helmke, New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg, Rhode Island’s Jack Reed, and California’s Diane Feinstein announced Tuesday that they plan to introduce legislation to make background checks mandatory for every gun purchase, whether from licensed dealers or not.

From a press release announcing the move:

The bill would help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists, the mentally ill and gun traffickers by requiring background checks on all sales at gun shows. In 1993, the Brady Law was passed requiring prospective purchasers of guns sold by federal firearms licensees, like gun shops and pawn shops, to go through a background check.  However, a loophole in current law allows people to purchase guns from unlicensed sellers at “gun shows” without going through any background check.

In 1999, Sen. Lautenberg introduced the first bill in Congress to close the gun show loophole.  Later that year, in the wake of the Columbine tragedy, the Senate passed Sen. Lautenberg’s legislation to close the gun show loophole as an amendment to a juvenile justice bill.  The legislation passed by one vote, with Vice Al President Gore casting the tiebreaking vote.  However, the gun lobby killed the legislation in House-Senate conference. 

 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate