Matt Fecteau: Close the Gun Show Loophole
Sunday, January 10, 2016
In 2011 a jihadist video entitled “Do Not Rely on Others, Take the Task Upon Yourself,” US born al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn had a message for American Muslims:
“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?”
While not entirely correct, one cannot purchase a fully automatic assault weapon so readily; fully automatic weapons are highly regulated and controlled unlike semiautomatic weapons. Gadahn’s statements and the recent attacks in San Bernardino highlight why the United States needs to address something called the “gun show loophole.”
Essentially, the gun show loophole states private sellers of firearms, including those at gun shows, are not required to conduct background checks, record the transaction, or demand identification (the laws vary from state to state). A number of federal attempts to close the loophole have failed, creating a significant vulnerability.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWith our increased domestic security apparatus, Islamic fundamentalist groups like the Islamic State have a difficult time infiltrating the United States. Instead, these groups indoctrinate individuals via social media for harder to detect, lone wolf attacks. Inspired by the attacks in San Bernardino, home-grown violent extremists will likely use firearms more prevalently in the future if nothing is done.
Gun rights advocates see things different, stunting any legislative (congressional) action. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," as National Rifle Association Chief Wayne LaPierre so often says. In recent years, all attempts to close the gun show loophole have been thwarted by the gun lobby, and its allies in Congress because of a concern for second amendment rights.
You can support the second amendment, and also support reasonable gun control measures; it is not one or the other. Most gun-control advocates are not talking about disarming law-abiding citizens or even making it harder for law-abiding citizens to purchase firearms; we seek to impede a suspected terrorist’s ability to purchase a firearm reducing, deterring, or preventing more mass shootings. In 2014, due to legislative indecision, the Government Accountability Office found between 2004 and 2014 approximately 2,000 individuals linked to terrorism legally purchased firearms – concerning.
To remedy this, President Obama is expected to introduce an executive action to address the “gun show loophole” that Gadahn praised in his 2011 video. I hope we can all agree that keeping firearms away from terrorists is in our best interest. While you may not agree with all of President Obama’s agenda, I ask you to give his executive action a chance. Congress has failed to address the gun show loophole, and now, it falls on the President to take action.
No one seeks to disarm law-abiding citizens, but no law abiding-citizen should have a problem with a background check. I don’t want any more San Bernardinos.
Matt Fecteau ([email protected]), of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, lost to U.S. Rep. David Cicilline in last year’s Democratic primary. He is a former White House national security intern and Iraq war veteran.
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