Ben Shapiro Trashes Biden's New Background Check Rules

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) submitted its proposed gun dealer licensing rule for publication. The rule sets out what will determine when somebody selling firearms from their personal colletion must get a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and adds a few new ones. Biden said the changes were designed to force more gun sellers to conduct background checks before the sale can be completed. The rule points to several specific steps for determining if somebody is selling guns “predominantly for a profit” as a business. But it is still not specific on how many guns somebody can sell or how much money they can make before needing a license.

Stephen Gutsowski wrote over at The Reload (behind the pay wall) that it will likely impact how Americans sell guns, but not in the way most people probably think.

But, despite the fanfare and claims of the Biden Administration, it doesn’t significantly change the ATF’s position on who needs a license. Nor does it outlaw private sales by unlicensed people at gun shows or elsewhere.

It’s true the rule says there’s no specific number of sales that determines who needs a license. It says it doesn’t matter where a sale takes place. It says renting a table at a gun show could indicate somebody is engaged in the business.

But that’s what the ATF has been saying for a very long time. None of this is new. If you look back at a similar move under the Obama Administration in 2016, you’ll find many of the same talking points at play. One of the big talking points at the time was even those selling a single gun could have to get a license–something repeated in this rule.

“ATF will make clear that whether you are ‘engaged in the business’ depends on the facts and circumstances,” White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett said at the time. “On factors such as: whether you represent yourself as a dealer, such as making business cards or taking credit card statements. Whether you sell firearms shortly after they’re acquired or whether you buy or sell in the original packaging.”

The ATF’s 2016 guide to determining whether you need an FFL hits all the major factors included in the new rule, too.

Podcaster Ben Shapiro addressed the issue today on his show and he said this is just one more piece of the radical Democrat agenda, and that it won't have any impact on crime.  Shapiro, a gun owner, said the rule is likely to be challenged in court like most of the other gun related rules the Biden Administration has released.

Only 54 Voluntary Background Checks at Gun Shows in First Year of Law

For years, the gun ban lobby has claimed that gun shows are a bazaar for criminals to buy guns without background checks.  Because there is no way to know exactly how many private sellers actually sell a firearm at a gun show, they have used hidden video taken of unsuspecting sellers in an attempt to show how "easy it is for a criminal to buy a gun at a gun show."  They claim that private sellers pay for space at a gun show to sell a table full of guns.  More likely it is the guy who walks in with a rifle or shotgun over his shoulder with a "For Sale" sign in the muzzle, and often the same guy walks out with the gun after not having found a buyer.

So, when Virginia passed a law stationing state police at all gun shows to conduct voluntary background checks on private sales as part of a deal that ended Attorney General Mark Herring's attack on concealed carry reciprocity, it offered an opportunity to get a glimpse of the private sales picture at gun shows.  The numbers are less than overwhelming.  From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

During the first full year of the measure ending June 30, only 54 voluntary background checks were requested by private sellers of firearms or their customers at 77 gun shows across the state. And of those, only one prospective gun buyer was denied the purchase of a gun, and he was never charged with an offense.

By comparison, 39,738 mandatory criminal background checks were performed by federally licensed firearms dealers on their customers at gun shows between July 1, 2016, and June 30, resulting in 325 denials, according to newly released data from the Virginia Firearms Transaction Center, which is operated by the Virginia State Police. 

This doesn't mean that there are only 54 private sellers that have sold firearms at gun shows.  It just means that at least 54 sellers wanted to make sure their buyer was able to own a firearm.  A better picture is presented in Colorado, which requires background checks on all private sales.  When that law was passed, it was predicted that 420,000 new background checks would be conducted in the first year.  But after one year, only a fraction of that number - 13,600 - had been conducted.  In Washington State, after the passage of I-594, a ballot initiative that required background checks on all private sales, approximately 6000 private sales had taken place after the first 14 months of the law.

The gun ban lobby exaggerates the number of private sales at gun shows simply to push their agenda.  The numbers however don't support the claims, whether it is in Colorado and Washington where mandatory checks are required, or even with voluntary checks in Virginia, it's more about pushing an agenda than doing something that will actually reduce crime, like locking up criminals.

Only 39 Voluntary Background Checks Run at 41 Gun Shows and Only One Buyer Denied Since July 1st

The Richmond Times Dispatch has the story here. 

Since the new law took effect July 1st placing state police at every gun show to run voluntary background checks on private sales of firearms, a total of 39 background checks have been run at 41 gun shows. That's an average of a little less than one check per 2 day gun show (the exception being the Chantilly gun show which usually opens on Friday evening).  But it gets better - only one prospective buyer has been stopped, a 21 year-old who agreed to undergo the background check when the seller requested he do so.  The buyer had an outstanding felony warrant and he was immediately arrested.

So, given the amont of money taxpayers are paying for the state police to staff the shows, is this really a good use of taxpayer money?

Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly To Announce "Virginia Coalition for Common Sense"

The Washington Post reports that former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly will be in Virginia today to introduce the creation of a group called Virginia Coalition for Common Sense made up of law enforcement, the faith community, domestic violence prevention, and mental health communities to push for mandatory background checks at gun shows.  Just last month, Governor Terry McAuliffe signed into law a bill that expands recognition and reciprocity for Virginia's concealed handgun permits, creates the ability for private sellers to use the State Police to run voluntary background checks on perspective buyers at gun shows, and tightened restrictions on gun ownership for those under a court ordered domestic violence protective order.

The couple were in Delaware yesterday announcing the "Delaware Coalition for Common Sense" where according to WDEL News Talk Radio, they pushed for "processes for relatives and law enforcement to temporarily prevent people suffering a 'mental health crisis' from accessing guns" and "closing what Kelly deemed the 'Charleston Loophole,' a provision in federal law that automatically allows a gun dealer to complete a firearm sale if a background check takes longer than three business days without a ruling."  Look for similar measures to be pushed when they announce their Virginia Coalition.

The Post noted while Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety "strongly rebuked" McAuliffe for making the concealed carry deal with GOP legislators, Giffords group stayed mum.  It was not mentioned whether McAuliffe or any in his administration would be at the unveiling today but former Obama U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Tim Heaphy along with a former staffer for former U.S. Senator Jim Webb will be part of the coalition.

President to Issue Executive Order on Background Checks?

Several blogs are reporting President Obama is about to issue an executive order "expanding" background checks. The sites are all sourcing the AP.  Stand by for more details as they become available.

Gun Show Floor Amendment to Budget Defeated in House

Earlier today, Delegate David Toscano proposed an amendment to the House Budget that would have provided money for private sellers to use the State Police to conduct voluntary background checks on firearms they sell at gun shows.  The amendment is below:

Chief Patron: Toscano		Item 413 #7h
Public Safety
Department Of State Police				Language

Language:

Page 360, after line 35, insert: "H.1. Notwithstanding any provisions of the Code of Virginia, the Department of State Police shall be available at every firearms show held in the Commonwealth to make determinations in accordance with the procedures set out in § 18.2-309.2:2 of whether a prospective purchaser or transferee is prohibited under state or federal law from possessing a firearm. The Department of State Police shall establish policies and procedures in accordance with 28 C.F.R § 25.6 to permit such determination to be made by the Department of State Police. Unless otherwise required by state or federal law, any party involved in the transaction may decide whether or not to have such a determination made. The Department of State Police may charge a reasonable fee for the determination. 2. The promoter, as defined in § 54.1-4201, shall give the Department of State Police notice of the time and location of a firearms show at least 30 days prior to the show. The promoter shall provide the Department of State Police with adequate space, at no charge, to conduct such prohibition determinations. The promoter shall ensure that a notice that such determinations are available is prominently displayed at the show. 3. No person who sells or transfers a firearm at a firearms show after receiving a determination from the Department of State Police that the purchaser or transferee is not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a firearm shall be liable for selling or transferring a firearm to such person. 4. The provisions of § 18.2-308.2:2 including definitions, procedures, and prohibitions shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the above provisions."

The amendment failed on a vote of 35-63.

Senate Courts of Justice Advances Voluntary Background Check Bill

This morning, Senate Courts unanimously advanced SB1141 this morning.  SB1441 is Senator Lucas' bill that as originally drafted requires the State Police to be available to perform background checks for privates sales at gun shows if requested by a party involved in a transaction. Additionally, the promoter of the firearms show shall furnish the State Police sufficient facilities to perform the background checks. In order for the bill to become effective, the U.S. Department of Justice must approve the policies and procedures that the State Police will use to implement the provisions of the bill.

The reported bill was amended to add language to make it clear that private sellers who did not wish to take advantage of the voluntary checks could not be held liable if a firearm ended up being used for illegal purposes.  The bill now moves to Senate Finance to determine any budgetary impact.

House Subcommittee Kills McAuliffe's Gun Bills

Tonight the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee #1 took up eleven bills that were part of Governor McAuliffe's gun control agenda and defeated all of them. Below is the list of bills that were defeated:

HB1548 Concealed handgun permit; revocation of permit if delinquent in child support
HB1904 Firearms; penalty when accessible by children
HB1909 Firearms magazines, certain; prohibition of sale, transfer, etc
HB1997 Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgun purchases; penalty.
HB1923 Firearm transfers; criminal history record information checks,
HB2085 Firearms; purchase, possession, or transportation following certain misdemeanor convictions
HB1604 Firearms; criminal history record information check, penalties.
HB1864 Firearms show; State Police list of vendors or exhibitors
HB1671 Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgun purchases; penalty.
HB1801 Firearms; display or distribution of information at shows.
HB2232 Purchase, etc., of ammunition by persons involuntarily admitted

There are still some bad bills remaining in the subcommittee and all of the pro-rights bills are waiting to be considered.  Be sure to check the VSSA Legislative Tracking Form for the lastest information on the 2015 Session.

Less than .5% of 2014 Gun Show Background Checks in Virginia Were Denied

The Richmond Times Dispatch has the story here. And, you'll see a new "loophole" designated in the story - the "private-sale loophole."

“Unless the private-sale loophole is entirely closed, requiring background checks at gun shows alone may do little to curb people who are legally prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm from buying one from a private seller,” said Baker, who in September published an article titled “Reducing Gun Crime in Virginia: Trends and the Need for Clear Thinking in Public Policy” in The Virginia News Letter, a Weldon Cooper Center publication on public policy issues.

“I don’t think making background checks limited only to sales that take place in public venues like gun shows and stores is going to stop the type of sales that lead to criminals buying guns,” said Baker, who supports the Second Amendment right to own a firearm but favors reasonable restrictions in obtaining guns, including universal background checks. “To have real teeth and dissuade people from selling guns to criminals, all firearm sales should require a background check.”

“Doing that would place the burden not only on criminals to not pursue firearms but also on people looking to sell guns, too,” Baker added. “This has the potential to limit the available markets in which those legally prohibited from buying firearms are able to do so. Governor McAuliffe’s current proposal only partially gets at one of those markets."

You may recognize the source of that quote - it's criminologist Thomas R. Baker, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs who has analyzed crime and firearm sales data in Virginia from 2006 to 2012 and found even though firearms sales increased 101% during that period, crime declined 28%.

The take away from the article is the total number of background checks at gun shows in 2014 were 33,484 and only 169 (.5%) were denied.  Of those that were denied, 59 were charged, an even smaller .18% of the total background checks run.  That means that 110 people that were originally denied were likely false positives.  We don't know because that was either not pursued by Baker in his study or not useful information to advance the narrative that we need so-called "universal" background checks to keep criminals from getting firearms.  It seems to me that what we are left with is rather than gun shows being the "Arms Bazaars" that we are constantly told they are, it confirms what the National Institute for Justice told us back in 1998, that very few criminals try and buy firearms at gun shows.

State Senate Early Home for Gun Control Bills in 2015

The Virginia General Assembly convenes on Wednesday at noon. Of the bills pre-filed so far, the State Senate is clearly the battleground.  A quick look at the bills assigned to Senate Courts of Justice shows us that the gun ban crowd will again attempt to ban all private sale of firearms (SB 768), reinstate gun rationing (SB 798), and the annual so-called "gun show loophole" bill (SB 694).  On the positive side, a bill creating lifetime concealed handgun permits (SB 689) has also be introduced.  So far, there have been no anti-rights bills referred to the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee.

Check this blog and the VSSA Twitter feed daily for updates on legislation when the General Assembly convenes.

Now is the Time to Contact Your Legislators About McAuliffe's Gun Control Proposals

While not surprising, but at the same time heartening, General Assembly GOP leaders were dismissive of Governor Terry McAuliffe's gun control proposals that he rolled out on Monday.  Having said that, Virginia gun owners should not get complacent and should let their voice be heard.  Contact your General Assembly members ahead of the January 14th opening of the 2015 session and let them know you oppose these proposals.  Here are some great points, courtesy of NRA-ILA, that you can use when contacting your state legislators:

Attempting to reimpose the ineffective one-handgun-per-month (gun rationing) restriction that Virginia repealed in 2012.

It's obvious that McAuliffe and anti-gun leader Michael Bloomberg, his political patron, are clearly out of touch with the views and priorities of ordinary Americans on this issue.  Last week's Pew Poll showed a majority of Americans believe owning a firearm makes you safer and it is more important to protect our firearm freedoms than to control the ownership of firearms.  Gun rationing schemes are archaic and ineffective.  Like every gun control law, one-gun-a-month restrictions only burden law-abiding citizens and do absolutely nothing to reduce violent crime.  Purchasers of firearms are already subject to criminal records checks, and further and arbitrary control of these legal items does nothing but unfairly burden Virginia’s law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen.

Seeking to arbitrarily strip some 9,000 Virginia residents of their right to hold concealed handgun permits for falling behind on child-support payments and pursuing prohibitions for people convicted of certain misdemeanor crimes from possessing a firearm.

Being behind on child-support payments is not relevant to your constitutional right to defend yourself and does not indicate that you are a violent person or a danger to others.  In many cases, individuals who are behind on child support payments may have simply hit on hard financial times and making it more difficult for them to defend themselves will only compound their difficulties and offer no public safety benefit.  Likewise, misdemeanor offenses should not warrant the permanent loss of Second Amendment rights.  No other civil right is lost in the Commonwealth for conviction of misdemeanor offenses.  McAuliffe clearly wishes to treat the Right to Keep and Bear Arms as a second class civil right.

Attempting to expand background checks.

Anyone engaged in the business of buying and selling firearms for livelihood and profit must be federally licensed as a firearm dealer (FFL) and thus there is no such thing as a “private vendor.”  A gun dealer must maintain a record of every firearm received from, or transferred to, another person or dealer and any further expansions of the law will have no impact on criminal activity.  Today, gun control activists like McAuliffe are trying to expand this system to all firearm transfers at gun shows, under the banner of “universal” background checks; an innocent sounding title for what should really be called “universal registration.”  What they won’t tell you is that no background check system will ever be truly “universal” because criminals will not submit themselves to such system and therefore their anti-gun approach once again singles out individuals who are law-abiding citizens.  The NRA opposes these misleading proposals and will work diligently to defeat this legislation.

You can find your Delegate and State Senator by clicking here.  

Arrests Increase in Virginia for Prohibited Persons Attempting to Buy Firearms

The Times Dispatch has the story here.

In 2011, the first year Virginia State Police began tracking gun show transactions, 10.6 percent of the people denied permission to buy firearms were charged with an offense related to being someone legally prohibited from possessing a firearm. That proportion rose to 12.4 percent in 2012 and more than doubled to 27 percent last year.

The State Police noted that not all people denied correspond to a previous crime that makes them a prohibited persons.

Some misunderstand what they are required to disclose on the background check form or unknowingly provide false information, others don’t satisfy identification requirements, and a few are accidentally flagged as being prohibited from buying a gun, among various reasons.

Not suprisingly, when you look at the actual number of denials, the number is quite small compared to the number of transactions.

The number of denials rose slightly from 359 in 2011 to 380 in 2012, but fell sharply to 263 last year.

And when you look at the number os people actually charged, it confirms what the U.S. Department of Justice research arm, the National Institute of Justice found, that very few criminals attempt to get their firearms at gun shows.

Despite last year’s drop in denials, the number of arrests at gun shows continued to climb steadily, from 38 in 2011, to 47 in 2012 to 71 last year.

Thomas R. Baker, a criminologist and an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, who did an intensive study on the number of firearm sales over the last six years and crime rates over the same period, believes that the drop in denials can be attributed to the repeal of "one gun-a-month" because people who attempted to puchase a second handgun before the expiration of the 30 days since their last purchase were listed as denials.  Handgun rationing was repealed in 2012.

He noted that between 2000 and 2012, rejections based on attempts to purchase more than one handgun per month among all commercial venues (including gun stores and gun shows) was the most common source of denial during that period, larger than even denials for prior felony convictions.

While Baker tries to make the case that the numbers should lead everyone to support so-called "universal background checks" the real take away should be when the law is enforced, people who should not be purchasing firearms will be stopped, as they have been increasingly in Virginia.

2014 General Assembly Convenes

The 2014 Session of the Virginia General Assembly convenes today at Noon and VSSA's lobbyist is there and ready to defend your rights.  There are currently just under 20 firearm related bills pre-filed.  Be sure to check this blog, the VSSA Twitter feed, and the VSSA Facebook Page daily for updates.  The VSSA Legislative Tracking Form will be posted on the website by the weekend.

This year is the long session (60 days) so while legislators have a little more time to take up legislation, things will still move fast.  This year is expected to be as busy as last year with the anti-rights lobby turning to states to try and do what they could not do at the federal level.

Less Than 1% of Gun Show Firearms Transactions Attempted By Prohibited Persons

The Roanoke Times reports what pro-rights activists have been saying all along, few criminals attempt to purchase firearms at gun shows.

The number of people charged this year represents only 0.15 percent of the 24,870 firearms transactions at 36 gun shows through June 30.

The gun ban lobby tried to spin this in their favor.  Andrew Goddard. President of the Virginia Center for Public Safety was quoted in the article:

Goddard said “we can only guess” the number of prohibited gun buyers who are aware of their status and buy from unlicensed sellers at gun shows.

Spin as they might, the fact is, gun shows are not bazaars for criminals, as the gun ban lobby would like us to think.

Marsh Gun Show Bill Dies, For Now

SB1001, Senator Henry Marsh's annual bill to require background checks on private sales at gun shows went down to defeat today but not before there was some last minute attempts to save it from certain defeat.  Last Friday, a scheme was hatched to prohibit private sales at gun shows.  The only way a private seller could transfer a firearm at a gun show was if it was consigned to an FFL.  For all intent and purposes, it banned private sales.  That version was passed and rereferred to Senate Finance but about an hour later, Senator Bill Stanley who had abandoned his pro-rights position and voted for the substitute, had second thoughts.  He asked that the committee convene on the Senate floor and the bill was recommitted to Senate Courts of Justice.

VSSA's lobbyist reported that Stanley was still trying to work out a compromise today, this time to have a private seller kiosk at gun shows where background checks could be conducted. This AP story confirms that report and gives more detail that our lobbyist could pass along in a quick email.

Stanley said the compromise that he and others will be working on in the coming year would require gun show promoters to create a kiosk where buyers could voluntarily submit to a background check to purchase from individuals who want to sell only to customers who are legally entitled to own a gun. Details, including how the kiosk would be staffed, have yet to be determined.

Not sure that voluntary background checks are going to satisfy the antis.  It is clear that people like Richmond Senator Don McEachin want a ban on all private sales.

Long Afternoon in Senate Courts to Include Three Firearm Bills

Senate Courts of Justice will meet a 1/2 after the Senate adjourns.  They have three firearm bills on the long docket.

Senate Bill 1001 - Richmond State Senator Henry Marsh's annual attack on gun shows that requires a background check on all private firearm transfers at a gun show.  Under current law, only licensed dealers must obtain such a check. (VSSA opposes)

This bill went through some lengthy discussion last Friday, was amendmened with a substitute to require that only FFLs could transfer firearms at gun shows (private owners would have to consign their firearms to dealers if they wanted to sell them at the show).  The substitute passed but then Republican Bill Stanley, who voted for the substitute, had second thoughts and about an hour after the bill was reported and referred to Senate Finance, the committee convened on the floor of the Senate to reconsider the vote.  It was then referred back to Senate Courts of Justice.  Stanley usually supports the pro rights position. The Legislative Information System does not indicate any of the activity that took place Friday.

Senate Bill 1299 - Provides that certain criminal history record information and protective order registry information shall be made available to the Attorney General of the United States for the purposes of using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to determine a person's eligibility to possess or receive a firearm under state or federal law.  (VSSA supports)

Senate Bill 1363 - Provides that residency for members of the armed forces for the purposes of firearms purchases in the Commonwealth shall include both the member's permanent duty post and the nearby state in which the member resides and from which he commutes to the permanent duty post. (VSSA supports)

It may be early evening before we know the outcome but VSSA will post on Twitter and here when the bills are taken up.

Senator William Stanley Abandoned Gun Owners on Gun Show Vote

As detailed in VSSA's legislative update emailed out earlier today the busy morning in Senate Courts of Justice defeated most all of the anti-rights legislation except one - the so-called "gun show loophole" bill.  Two bills were combined into one and then anti-rights Senator Donald McEachin offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to require private sellers to consign their firearms to an FFL in order to sell them at a gun.  This is burdensome not only to the private seller, but also to FFLs, who are (rightly) more concerned with their own livelihood than trying to sell someone else firearm.

This would not have happened if Delegate William Stanley from southwest Virginia had not abandoned gun owners.  It was expected that committee chairman Thomas Norment would vote for the bill because he has done so in the past.  But if Stanley had not voted for the bill, it would have died 7-7. Even after casting the vote, the Times Dispatch reported that he was already back peddling.

Even Stanley, a conservative Republican from Southwest Virginia, backpedalled somewhat after the vote, saying the bill needs work and he needs to see it in its final version before deciding whether to continue to support it.

“The concept I support,” he said, noting that the legislation would not restrict the private sales of guns outside of gun shows. He called it “a work in progress.”

The bill now goes to Senate Finance to determine if it has a fiscal impact.  If it clears the finance committee, it will head to the floor where the vote will be close.  Please contact Senator Stanley and politely but firmly let him know how disappointed you are with his vote and to urge him to vote no on SB1001 if he is has the opportunity to vote on the bill again.

McEachin Bill Targets All Private Firearm Sales

Richmond anti-rights State Senator Don McEachin has finally introduced what we all knew was the real target of the so-called "gun show loophole" bills - ending private sales of firearms. Senate Bill 379 would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person who is not a licensed dealer to sell, rent, trade, or transfer a firearm to any other person who is not a licensed dealer, and make it a class 2 misdemeanor for a person who is not a licensed dealer to buy, rent, trade, or transfer a firearm from any other person who is not a licensed dealer.  So, the charade is finally over.

Pilot Politics Blog Corrects Bloomberg Error

Kudos to Virginian Pilot "Pilot on Politics" blogger Julian Walker for correcting the falsehood that automatic firearms are readily available at gun shows.

Bloomberg gun control group releases national ad featuring al-Qaida figure | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Gun Ban Lobby Uses Al Qaeda Video to Push "Gun Show Loophole" Closure

A video recently spotted on jihadist forums shows American-born Al Qaeda fighter Adam Gadahn urging followers go buy guns at gun shows for use in terrorist activities.

"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?"

Now gun ban lobby supporters like State Senator Don McEachin are using it in the hope of successfully pushing their agenda to close down Virginia's gun shows. The only problem is, there is a completely different set of regulations dealing with automatic firearms so one cannot just go and buy one from a private seller at a gun show. CBS TV6's Catie Beck covered the story here in Richmond and contacted VSSA for comment.

 

Catie has covered other firearm related stories and did a great job again of presenting the story fairly. VSSA will be addressing the issue again this afternoon on NRANews' Daily News with Ginny Simone.