OUR FINDINGS August 2013 Anatomy of an Internet Sale Since the law requiring background checks on gun purchases from federal firearms licensees (FFLs) was first enacted in 1993, the internet has changed the way many guns are bought and sold Now, at the click of a mouse, anyone can visit vast online marketplaces where buyers and sellers complete transactions with no background checks and no records whatsoever While internet sales by their very nature do not produce transaction records and cannot be tracked by law enforcement officials, several cases where public attention has been brought to bear demonstrate the severity of the problem A recent internet-based transfer to a mentally ill man in Nevada demonstrates the need to update our laws at the state and/or federal levels This is the anatomy of an internet sale The Case: Reno, Nevada, July 2013 On July 2, 2013, Reno Police Sgt Laura Conklin posted an advertisement for her Glock 34 handgun on Armslistcom and sold it to a 19-year-old man who had contacted her about her posting and then met her at a Starbucks at 4 am Upon meeting, Sgt Conklin asked the man if he had committed any crimes He said no, and she sold him the gun, three magazines, night sights and a slide extension for $950 in cash They both signed a bill of sale, which the buyer took, and they parted ways Because the transaction was considered a private sale, neither federal nor Nevada law required a background check Conklin was unaware that the gun purchaser suffers from Asperger s syndrome and had been committed to a mental hospital in 2012 after it was determined that he was a threat to himself and others Under federal law, it is illegal for someone who has been committed to a mental health facility to purchase a firearm Likewise, it is illegal under federal law to knowingly sell a gun to someone who is prohibited from buying one However, neither Nevada nor federal laws require background checks for non-ffl sales Lots of unregulated guns are available online Because the background checks law doesn t apply to most online sales, websites like Armslistcom are magnets for people, like the man in Nevada, who are prohibited from buying guns from licensed dealers Today, Armslist is the nation s largest free gun sale site on the internet An analysis of the site concluded it had over 67,000 guns for sale from private sellers the vast majority of which require the buyer to pass a background check 1 1 ARS analysis of Armslistcom captured July, 2013 1
Many websites similar to Armslist likewise offer thousands of no-background check guns at the click of a mouse Background checks aren t required for internet sales - and there is no incentive to request one Federal law requires that background checks be conducted on gun purchases made at federal firearms licensees (FFLs) or gun stores but not on non-ffl purchases made at gun shows or on the internet from instate sellers While several states have passed legislation that extends background check requirements to include gun show and internet purchases, Nevada and the US Congress have failed to do so In April, members of the US Senate filibustered bipartisan legislation to close the internet sales loophole, and, in June, Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada vetoed legislation that would have required background checks on virtually all sales in Nevada The problem with the current law is clear: although it is illegal for a person who has been committed to a mental health facility to purchase a firearm, it is only illegal to sell a firearm to that person if the seller is aware that they have been institutionalized While a private seller can sometimes request a background check, there is little incentive to do so because there is no penalty for unknowingly selling a firearm to someone who is legally prohibited from possessing one According to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, voluntary checks for private sales have only been requested twice in the past five years It s truly mindboggling that anyone can buy a gun online, no questions asked, regardless of whether they re a criminal or dangerously mentally ill We were lucky no one was hurt - Jill Schaller, mother of mentally ill man who purchased a firearm on Armslistcom The internet firearms marketplace allows criminals and other prohibited purchasers easy access to guns In 2007, Armslist was created as a forum to facilitate local, private sales of firearms and firearms accessories and equipment The process is simple: much like the website Craigslist, which does not allow for the sale of firearms, buyers simply find a gun sale posting, email or call the seller, and then meet the seller to exchange payment for the purchase This creates avenues for people who should not have guns like criminals and the dangerously mentally ill to acquire firearms with no background check and no record of the purchase The fact that the website is specifically designed to facilitate in-state, private transfers between individuals means that it is specifically designed to operate outside of the background checks system Sellers can legally sell their guns - at a markup - to people looking for an untraceable way to obtain a gun, regardless of the buyer's history with crime or mental illness The transactions can be completed anonymously and leave no paper trail As previously stated, as this report was being authored, over 67,000 guns were for sale on Armslistcom from private sellers, the vast majority of which do not require the buyer to pass a background check 2
When there are flaws in the system, lives are put at risk The man in Nevada who purchased the handgun said that he believed he was permitted to purchase a gun off of Armslist because he passed the requirements listed on the website specifically that he was older than 18 If he had attempted the purchase at a licensed gun dealer rather than through an internet sale, the background check paperwork, Form 4473, would have asked if he had ever been institutionalized for mental health reasons, and he would have committed a crime if he chose to lie and complete the purchase If the man s court record had been in the NICS system, the background check itself would have noted his mental illness commitment, and the sale would have been denied Due to a court oversight, his record was never sent to the Nevada Department of Public Safety and was not included in the background check system That oversight has now been corrected, and the man will not be able to execute purchases from FFLs The man s mother, Jill Schaller, is the one who notified the police of the sale This transaction, which otherwise would have gone undetected, illustrates the necessity of expanding the background check system and requiring background checks on gun purchases According to Schaller, the fact that her son was able to acquire a firearm so easily through a private sale without a background check put her family in danger and could have ended her son s life 2 Although the man s court record has now been added to the background checks system, preventing purchases from licensed dealers, there is nothing to stop Schaller s son from buying another firearm through a private sale 2 http://wwwusatodaycom/story/news/nation/2013/07/10/nev-mother-questions-gun-sale-to-mentally-illson/2504493/ 3
Proposed legislation would keep our communities safer and our rights intact This spring, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) authored a bipartisan bill aimed at providing background checks for these types of transactions The legislation would expand background check requirements to include firearms purchases made at gun shows and on the internet transactions that occur exclusively between strangers The requirement would not extend to private sales between friends and family, or to those advertised to coworkers or neighbors on bulletin boards at work or places of worship Sgt Conklin who had no previous relationship with the man to whom she sold her handgun would have been required to request a background check before the completion of the sale The Manchin-Toomey legislation would also facilitate the inclusion of all available mental health and criminal records in the NICS by directing grant money towards creating systems to send records to NICS and reducing federal funds to the states that do not comply 3 If the man s information had been in the background checks system and had a background check been required, he would not have been able to purchase a gun Background checks can help make sure guns are going to responsible gun owners, and not to criminals or the dangerously mentally ill In most states, gun transactions that occur at gun shows and on the internet are entirely unregulated This failure in our public safety policy has allowed up to 40 percent of all gun transfers to take place without a background check 4 Between 1994 and 2010, over 118 million applicants have applied for gun transfers or permits and nearly 21 million applicants were denied 5 Background checks are proven to stop criminals and the mentally ill from buying guns, and studies have shown denying criminals gun purchases to be an effective gun violence prevention strategy 6 However, there is no way of knowing how many of the private transactions that have occurred are unlawful In a Department of Justice survey, 80 percent of criminal inmates said they acquired their firearms through a private sale in which a background check was not necessary Background checks remain popular in the United States, with over 90 percent of Americans favoring requiring background checks on all gun purchases Requiring background checks on all gun purchases with limited exceptions is common sense policy that would help keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill 3 http://wwwmanchinsenategov/public/indexcfm/2013/4/the-public-safety-and-second-amendment-rightsprotection-act 4 Bacground Checks for Firearm Transfers, Garen Wintemute, Violence Prevention Research Program, University of California, Davis; Feb 2013 5 http://wwwbjsgov/indexcfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4596 6 Effectiveness of Denial of Handgun Purchase to Persons Believed to Be at High Risk for Firearm Violence, Mona Wright, Garen Wintemute, Frederick Rivera American Journal of Public Health; Jan 1999 4
Reader Exercise: How fast can you find a no-background check gun? Buying a gun online with no background check and no accountability is stunningly easy See for yourself Follow these instructions, and then let us know about your experience and if you think we need background checks on internet sales 1 Visit wwwarmslistcom 2 Only proceed if you are 18 and legally permitted to purchase firearms 3 Select a state in which to browse guns for sale 4 Select a preferred category of firearm then make your pick How long did it take? Should the gun you picked be available to anyone with no background check? Find your senator s twitter handle at wwwtwittercom/gov/ussenate/members and tweet your results: Example: @YourSenator It took me x minutes to find a gun for sale on the internet with no background check Expand background checks now! Additional copies of this report are available on our website: wwwamericansforresponsiblesolutionsorg Americans for Responsible Solutions is a 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organization and a political action committee 5