At 09:57 PM 10/8/00 -0700, you wrote:
> >
>From:
>http://www.handguncontrol.org/facts/ib/gunshows.asp
Not to get the whole shouting match started again - but HCI has been known
to present garbage numbers from time to time. Their avowed purpose is the
removal of all privately held weapons, not "handgun control". I take all
their figures with a large block of salt.
At all the shows I have been to, the "unlicensed" dealers accounted for a
small percentage of those present. They had small quantities of weapons, if
any - most had accessories and parts, but not complete guns. Those who
wanted to sell guns had to abide by all State of Illinois and federal laws.
There are enough ATF agents provocateur and snitches out there to make life
miserable for anyone cutting corners. Licensed dealers have too much
invested to want to risk it all on a few bucks from illegal sales.
All Illinois waiting periods are also strictly enforced. It's a quick ride
to jail if you try to bypass them and get caught.
Illegal guns sales are rare at gun shows. They are much more likely to
happen out of the trunk of a car in an alley somewhere in Chicago - with an
off-duty Chicago narc selling. Cops here have been caught selling stuff
right out of the evidence lockers.
Right off HCI's website that you posted:
"In the deadliest school shooting in United States history, two 17-year-old
boys in Littleton, Colorado, procured two shotguns, an assault rifle and a
TEC-9 assault pistol and
shot 26 students, killing 13 of them before turning the guns on themselves.
Subsequent investigation by the ATF found that all four of the weapons had
passed through the
hands of unlicensed dealers at gun shows. The Columbine high school
shooting is considered to be the "turning point" in mobilizing citizen
action against the loopholes in
current gun laws."
This is just a typical distortion. The guns were not "procured" by the two
17-year olds - they were bought by a "straw buyer". The TEC-9, I believe,
was sold directly to the boys, and the seller is now in jail for the
illegal sale. The fact that the guns "passed through the hands of
unlicensed dealers" is irrelevant. Private citizens have a right to buy and
sell legal items without being forced to do so through a dealer. Perhaps
they SHOULD be required to call the instant check system with the buyer's
name - but this would be worthless unless the feds actually start arresting
anyone who fails the background check. A true failure means the buyer is
prohibited from even ASKING to buy a weapon, and should see the inside of a
federal jail cell.
It still stands that if Colorado allowed concealed carry inside their
schools, and if the students had been trained in gun safety, that the
tragedy could have been prevented or stopped before the perps finally shot
themselves.
Interesting aside - a local (Colorado) reporter supposedly has information
that someone called the local hospital on an official emergency line over
an hour before the shooting started - warning them to be ready for "bomb
and gunshot" victims. Government conspiracy, anyone?
Chuck Kuecker
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