A little background

The gun show loophole in focus

No, we aren’t going to get into the Bryan Malinowski death, primarily because we are in a complete state of ignorance about that subject. Doubtless the news side of this outfit will keep us and readers informed about the investigation into the shootout between Mr. Malinowski— the executive director of the airport here in Little Rock—and the ATF, of all agencies. We will say there are a bunch of questions for which we’d like to hear answers. But Philip Martin and John Brummett have already asked those questions, maybe along with hundreds of other question-askers in Arkansas, including Mr. Malinowski’s family and their lawyers. In such a high-profile shooting death, this won’t be swept under the rug. Count on it.

But this awful situation gives us another opportunity—or should we say yet another opportunity—to kick around this gun show loophole situation.

News reports say Mr. Malinowski sold guns at gun shows. Which is why the ATF got involved, we suppose. But selling guns at gun shows isn’t illegal. Sorta. You can sell the weapons without asking for background checks. Sorta. It’s all very confusing. Clearly.

Apparently it’s a matter of volume and intention. If you sell “a bunch” of guns with the “intention” to make a business out of it, then you should be a licensed dealer. But if you sell “just a few” with the “intention” of making this a weekend hobby, then you don’t have to be a licensed dealer. At least we think we have that right. Now imagine trying to define, legally, the difference between a bunch and a few. And then imagine trying to explain to a judge how you know somebody else’s intentions.

The point here isn’t to question the ATF or Mr. Malinowski. But to question the gun show loophole itself. And to question why-come We the People can’t close this sucker tight?

The rules say if you’re a business person in the trade of selling firearms, you need to be licensed and conduct background checks on your customers, or at least allow the FBI to do it over the phone. It doesn’t take long. Even Second Amendment supporters in this country have told pollsters they agree with background checks. Maybe because even Second Amendment supporters (like us) understand that bad or crazy people don’t need guns to harrass the rest of us.

The rules also say that if you’re selling your long-lost granddad’s .30.06 to Cousin Billy, you don’t need to do the paperwork.

There is a gulf between those two scenarios. It’s a gulf that gets people killed.

A body can go to a gun show and sell untold numbers of guns to people with untold crimes in their backgrounds before the government gets suspicious. This is why it’s called the Gun Show Loophole. In a country with a Second Amendment in the founding document, guns are always going to find their way into the wrong hands. But why make it easy on the mean and/or mentally ill?

An interesting poll by a national news outfit came out in 2019 that showed 90 percent of the American people favored requiring background checks on all gun buyers. The question on background checks used this phrase: “Including those buying at gun shows and private sales.” Still, 90 percent thought it a good idea.

Only 7 percent opposed.

Who conducted that leftist, lamestream media, fake news drive-by liberal television poll?

Fox News.

Maybe common sense is more common than we thought.

Somebody who shouldn’t be able to buy a gun would be stopped cold at a Walmart or pawnshop, because they would run his name through the system. But the same somebody could just as easily buy a $10 ticket to the state fairgrounds and buy a weapon of choice at the next gun show; no background check required. Matter of fact, the ineligible buyer might stop in at the gun show first, knowing he’d be denied at the gun store.

How does that make sense? Answer: It doesn’t.

The ATF says Mr. Malinowski sold guns at gun shows. How that came to their attention, why they should care, and what led them to his house in the early morning hours are questions we all look forward to being answered. Soonest.

But there’s another big question here, on a bigger scale, at least nationally: How clear the streets of bad guys with guns, if loopholes big enough to drive an armored car through keep pouring weapons into the street?

We’d say here at the end that Congress should act. But this is no laughing matter.