Debate Desk
Are Universal Background Checks Simply Common Sense for Gun Sales?
A check on every sale sounds simple, but it cannot be enforced without a registry, and it would not have reached the criminals who get guns outside the law.
The claim
Polls show broad support for requiring a background check on every gun sale, including private sales and sales at gun shows. Supporters say the "loophole" lets prohibited buyers skip the check, and that a simple, popular requirement would keep guns from felons and the dangerously ill.
The answer in three points
- Licensed dealers already run a check on every sale through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, including at gun shows. The gap concerns private transfers between individuals, and that is a different matter.
- A requirement for private sales can be enforced only if the government knows who owns which gun. Without a record of the original sale, a prosecutor cannot prove that a transfer took place. Enforcement therefore points toward a registry, which many gun owners reject for good historical reasons.
- Criminals rarely buy from licensed or private sellers at all. They steal guns, borrow them, or use straw buyers. A check at the counter does little to stop them.
There is a constructive path. Fix the records that feed the system, so that disqualifying convictions and adjudications are reported fully and promptly. Prosecute those who lie on the form and those who sell guns knowing the buyer is barred. Those steps reach the people who actually cause harm without building a list of every law-abiding owner.
The numbers
- The Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state prison inmates in 2016 found that about 10 percent of those who used a gun in their offense bought it from a retail source, with most obtaining it from family, friends or illegal sources.
- The National Instant Criminal Background Check System has been in operation since 1998, according to the FBI.
- The 2016 BJS survey reported that about 43 percent of inmates who possessed a gun during their offense got it from an off-the-street or underground source.
What they will say next
"Most Americans want it." Many support the idea in a poll question that does not mention the means of enforcement. When asked about a registry, support falls. Policy should be judged by whether it works, not only by how it polls.
"The background check system stops thousands of sales." It does, and denials of prohibited buyers at the counter are the system doing its job. The follow-up is whether those denied are prosecuted. Federal prosecutions for lying on the form are rare, and enforcing the existing law is a good place to start.
"Private sales are a loophole." Private sales are legal in federal law and many states have closed that gap. The proper venue for any such change is the legislature, with the Second Amendment's guarantee in mind.
"A registry exists in other countries without trouble." Many Americans remember that registration has been followed by confiscation in some places. Because a right is at stake, the burden is on those who propose the list to show that it prevents crime more than it burdens citizens.