As I start reading the article one thing caught my attention. This boogeyman known as the "gun show loop-hole." First, there is not a "gun show loop-hole." The "loop-hole," if you want to call it that, is that a private citizen can sell his or her privately owned guns to another private citizen without running the instant background check.
I've been to a couple gun shows. I'm not a fan. I tried buying my first gun at a gun show because I was led to believe the prices were fantastic and there was no need for a background check. When I tried to purchase a used 10/22 (pretty standard beginner rifle) for what new ones were going for from a vendor who was also a FFL holder who owned a gun store I was presented with the standard background check form. But hey wait, I'm at a gun show. This is a wild west free for all isn't it? The answer is that it is not a free for all at all. As far as I could tell every seller at the gun show was a FFL holder (federal firearm licence, basically someone allowed to sell guns commercially) and any FFL holder who sells a gun has to run the background check, even at a gun show! The only people who can sell guns at a gun show without running a background check are private citizens who rent a booth at a gun show to sell their privately owned guns to other private citizens for the purchasers own personal use. So just like I could sell my guns on KSL without running a background check I could conceivably rent a booth at a gun show and do the same thing. Only, I didn't see any booths where people were selling their personal stockpile of guns. Not one.
So this "gun show loop-hole" is yet another red herring in the gun debate.
I'm all for requiring background checks for all gun sales at all gun shows. For one, I don't think it changes anything because from my experience all gun sales at gun shows are from an FFL holder to a customer and require a background check according to current law. For another, if my experience was not typical I'm fine with making anyone who sets up a booth at a gun show do background checks on their customers, because by virtue of renting space at a gun show with the intent of selling guns you are not really a private citizen selling a gun to another private citizen. So, you should have to follow the same law that any other commercial firearms sells have to follow.
But that's not what closing the "gun show loop-hole means." What it means is requiring all transfers of gun ownership, even from father to son, neighbor to neighbor, KSL user to KSL user, to go to a FFL holder, pay them a fee for their service, pay for the background check and have the purchaser pass the background check before a gun can change hands. If that's something people think is going to help then I can get behind that. It's a PITA in certain cases and without actual gun registration it's essentially unenforceable, but hey let's pass some laws and pat ourselves on the back for doing something!