Crime and homicide rates have fallen over the past two years, and new Biden-Harris regulations targeting the black market for guns could cause them to decline. But voters should know that if Donald Trump is re-elected, significant progress on guns could end in one fell swoop.
There are two ways to buy guns in the United States. The typical method is through a federally licensed and regulated physical gun shop. Nearly 20 million guns are purchased this way each year, and each buyer must undergo a background check before completing the sale. About 200,000 people fail background checks, usually because of a prior felony conviction.
The second path is the private market, which is characterized by less regulation. Individuals who wish to sell or transfer ownership of personally owned firearms may do so, as long as the seller is not considered to be “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. This was intended to allow a grandfather to transfer a hunting rifle to his grandson, or sell a used gun to a friend or neighbor, without paperwork or background checks.
But over the years, this small gap has become a chasm so large that today, for every 10 guns used by criminals, four are purchased without a background check. In what have become known as gun shows and Internet loopholes, private buyers and sellers are now flocking to physical locations at gun shows or to Internet sites to sell guns to strangers, with no strings attached or the need for background checks. .
It's no surprise that criminals and arms dealers know this. Millions of gun ads are posted online each year that can evade background checks. Of prisoners convicted of firearm crimes, 96 percent of those who were prohibited from possessing firearms at the time of their crimes obtained them from unlicensed dealers.
We've known about this loophole for years, but the gun lobby and far-right politicians have kept it open until now.
These sales are now being regulated thanks to an underappreciated law and smart executive actions by the Biden-Harris administration. The vague language of “participation in business” that created the loophole in private sales has been replaced by “making a profit” in the market. The bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed in 2022. This simple change allowed the administration to issue new regulations requiring people who sell their own guns for profit to obtain a federal firearms license and conduct background checks. all buyers, whether the transaction takes place in a store, a gun show or online.
This made America safer. The Justice Department says 20,000 unlicensed sellers must now undergo background checks because of the change. This means fewer criminals can take advantage of loopholes in federal laws to purchase the guns that terrorize our communities.
But the battle is not over yet. Any president can revoke executive orders. Donald Trump has attacked the new Biden-Harris law and regulations. Trump also backed the National Rifle Association and other gun extremists who convinced a federal judge in Texas to temporarily block the background check requirement from going into effect. With Trump as president, gun rights extremists will no longer need the courts to rule on their weak legal case. And Trump won't care that 86 percent of Americans want background checks on all firearms sales.
Closing the gun show and cyber loophole is not a panacea for solving the problem of gun violence in this country. That's why the administration has also cracked down on homemade weapons and illegal gun trafficking. Improve active shooter training; and increase funding for law enforcement. But violent crime is near a 50-year low, mass shootings are down 20 percent and the homicide rate is down 11.6 percent in 2023 year-over-year.
Until recently, an incomplete background check system meant that millions of firearms were available to bad actors at the drop of a hat. A few clicks online or a quick trip to your local gun show means you can get a gun regardless of your criminal record.
The Biden-Harris administration has recognized that with rights come responsibilities and that those who exercise their Second Amendment right must do so without subverting our background check system. But this new regulation only exists at the whim of the president.
Jim Kessler is executive vice president of policy at the Third Way Foundation, a left-of-center think tank. Jeremy Audrich is a social policy researcher at Third Way.
