Senator Lautenberg Calls For An End To The Gun Show Loophole

One Year Anniversary Of Virginia Tech Shootings

April 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) was joined by Virginia Tech shooting victims and their families and gun safety advocates in front of the Supreme Court in calling on Congress to take up and pass his bill to close the gun show loophole.

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Gun show, Houston: Photo by mx5tx (CC)

Similar events to the one at the Supreme Court were held across the country today to mark the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, protest easy access to guns and call on Congress to pass Sen. Lautenberg’s legislation.

“As the country mourns the loss of the 32 students and professors at Virginia Tech one year ago, we must renew our commitment to ending gun violence in our schools and on our streets. It defies common sense that felons, fugitives, and others who are legally prohibited from owning firearms can walk into a gun show and walk out with a gun—no questions asked. My legislation would require background checks for every gun purchased at every gun show across America. Congress needs to stand up and close the gun show loophole,” Sen. Lautenberg said.

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 dealers at gun shows without going through a background check. The ATF reports that between 25 and 50 percent of firearm vendors at gun shows are unlicensed.

As a result of this loophole, convicted felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, and other people who are prohibited by federal law from owning guns are able to purchase firearms at gun shows. For example, the two teenagers who shot and killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in 1999 used guns obtained from gun shows.

In 1999, Sen. Lautenberg introduced the first bill 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 President Gore casting the tiebreaking vote. However, the gun lobby killed the legislation in House-Senate conference.

Sen. Lautenberg joined with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) in January to introduce a bill that would close the lingering loophole by requiring background checks on all sales at gun shows. The bill, the Gun Show Background Check Act of 2008, defines a gun show as any event where 50 or more guns are offered or exhibited for sale.

The effort to close the gun show loophole has attracted broad support. Family members of Virginia Tech shooting victims, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) have endorsed the Lautenberg-Reed bill. Earlier this week, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 250 mayors from more than 40 states, announced its support for closing the gun show loophole. And according to press reports, Michael J. Sullivan, acting director of the ATF, said President Bush has indicated he would support a measure to close the loophole.

The Lautenberg-Reed legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Carl Levin (D-MI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Thomas Carper (D-DE) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).

Source: Frank R. Lautenberg