An issue I have is “we” seem to support background checks when buying a gun from a dealer/FFL. I personally am not in favor of any background check, but the NRA and most 2A organizations seem to (enforce existing laws, blah, blah).
So this begs the question that if a background check at the dealer is a good idea and supposedly “keeps guns out of the wrong hands”, then why aren’t all sales checked? What good is it if a “bad guy” can bypass the dealer background check by purchasing from a private party?
These are the types of questions I get from antis and fence sitters and I don’t have a very good answer.
Personally, I’d like to see GCA’68 and NFA ‘34 repealed so I can ring up Colt and have an M4 delivered to my front door. But nowadays most people freak out at the thought of that much freedom.
Private sales are the safety valve that stops background checks from becoming registration, enabeling confiscation:
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/08/how-to-get-gun-without-background-check.html
The vast majority of guns ‘in the wrong hands’ are stolen. Plain and simple - that’s where they come from.
They form burglary teams that specifically target homes that they suspect have guns, and sell the stolen goods outside of government supervision.
Next biggest source - straw buyers.
The incidence of a criminal being caught with a gun he purchased at a gun show (sans background check) is rare enough to be newsworthy.
Background checks don’t stop the trade of stolen guns or straw bought guns.
Me personally? If I sell a gun, I will do it through a dealer. I don’t know all the laws...and if I accidentally sell a gun to a felon, I’m not sure what that means to me. And I don’t know about my liability for civil action, if the guy turns around and kills someone. So I cower under the government boot, and plan to obey.