Reply #22: I don't believe opening NICS to private sales will deter illegal sales or solve crime [View All]

[lysine]

A federally licensed dealer is subject to several sets of regulations when doing business. It's very simple... follow the rules and keep your license (business/livelihood). The ATF uses what resources it can to make random "audits" on dealers and verify everything is legit. Screw up and abuse your FFL privileges and risk a revoked license, incur heavy fines, or prison time.

One such regulation that must be followed is the FFL must record ALL sales/transfers/business in a "bound book". There are records of what guns have been sent TO the dealer and the dealer had better either:
A) Have that item and produce it for inspection
B) Have a record of sale with accompanying Form 4473 and cleared NICS
C) Have record of transferring it to another dealer.

There is clear motivation (legally and fiscally) for a business to keep a clean bound book and not make illegal sales. Someone WILL find out if a deal is made to a prohibited person... especially if that weapon turns up at a crime scene. For the private seller (or "private dealer") there is no FFL license, regulations, bound books, or real motivation to comply with NICS. What's to stop someone from making an illegal private sale they know there no record of them even having that gun? What if they decide to sell the gun sans calling NICS? As long as there's nobody witnessing the sale... there is no accounting trail to follow.

The truth is, most guns out there are on their 3rd/4th/5th owner and there is no way of locating them or knowing who has them. Records of possession of that private seller's firearm are not stringent and complete both BEFORE and AFTER it changes hands... especially if it was purchased from another and sold to private source. The ATF does not have resources to audit all "private dealers" (said otherwise: ALL eligible gun-owning citizens). The icing on this turd-dessert is that once-again... this law does absolutely NOTHING to people who live outside the law.

What it boils down to is that requiring citizens to call NICS would be a feel-good law with little provision for enforcement.
Without very successful/stringent nationwide arms registration and private citizens bound books, private sale NICS cannot work.