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Article IndexBY ADELE SAMMARCO
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Imagine purchasing a firearm as easy as a click of a mouse from your personal computer in the comfort of your own home.
Now, a coalition of Mayors is proposing to put an end to unscrupulous online gun sales and close the loopholes that give criminals easy access to such deadly weapons.
According to the website, FixGunChecks.org, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bi-partisan coalition of more than 550 Mayors across the country have joined together to form a common bond around what they call one simple concept: respect the rights of responsible law-abiding citizens and keep guns out of the hands of criminals, gang members, drug abusers, or anyone who just may be dangerous.
The coalition is co-founded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and Mayor Tom Menino of Boston, and more than forty New Jersey Mayors from around the Garden State have joined the petition to crackdown on illegal gun sales from Newark to Camden.
The latest murder of New York City Police Officer Peter Figoski, who was shot in the head after responding to a 911 call about a home invasion, sparked law enforcement officials to beef-up efforts to thwart criminals from buying illegal weapons over the internet.
Figoski, a 22-year veteran of the force was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 12th with an illegal Ruger P95 9 millimeter that was purchased online. He leaves behind a wife and four daughters.
An undercover NYPD investigation entitled “Point, Click and Fire” unveiled unlicensed online sellers willing to sell firearms to people they know could not pass a background check, which is a felony under federal law.
Law enforcement officials say the investigation into internet gun sales found a vast and largely unregulated market for illegal guns, with 62 percent of sellers willing to commit a felony by selling firearms to people who likely could not pass the background check.
The city hired licensed private investigators who recorded audio of telephone calls with private sellers who advertise on websites, and used concealed cameras during in-person interactions.
The states in which sellers agreed to sell illegally included Louisiana, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio and Colorado.
Some of those illegal guns from down south and out west have made their way into New Jersey where the gun laws are among the strictest in the nation.
Governor Christie has gone on the record as an advocate for the passage of what he calls “common sense gun control” legislation.
The actual text from the ATF website states:
"A person may sell a firearm to an unlicensed resident of his State, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. "
"Reasonable cause" here is used in it's legal sense, in that you have direct evidence that the buyer is a 'prohibited person'. As JasonH mentions, an off-hand comment is not reasonable cause. No judge would issue a search warrant (another place reasonable cause is required) on that basis.
That's another reason that the 'findings' of this 'report' will never be acted upon. The information in it simply isn't clear-cut evidence of wrong-doing. It's clear this entire 'investigation' was done solely for it's media value in an attempt to create a new 'crisis' that only more anti-rights legislation could 'fix'.
These are the same people who are supposedly responsible for proposing 'common sense' gun control laws? I would find it insulting that they think the average American citizen is stupid enough to be taken in by their stunts, but they seem to have a pretty good track record with the media, so I guess I can't blame them for trying.
Just like if I were to walk into the DMV to get a drivers license and say "I don't think I can pass the parallel parking part of the test". The DMV cannot deny my attempt at license due to my one statement. If I go and take the test and fail the parallel parking, then and only then does the DMV have cause to reject my license application.
Same goes for a background check for a firearms purchase. Unless it's actually proven that the buyer cannot pass a NICS check, then the seller is allowed to process the purchase.
And it's been stated several times already, out of state purchases are required to go through a FFL. Sorry the story doesn't wash about out of state LEGAL firearms being the problem. A criminal smuggling an illegal firearm over state lines should be what you're writing about...
Bloomberg is a liar. He doesn't support the Second Amendment as he claims. If he did it wouldn't cost $1000 to get a permit in NYC or take being a celebrity or a friend of the Mayor to get a carry permit. Why does the press always repeat the failed lie that Bloomberg supports the Second Amendment? If he supported the First Amendment but only with a $1000 license would the press say he is a champion of free speech? We all know he's a liar and we aren't going to let this pass. Maybe if he offers a quid-pro-quo like letting the national concealed carry reciprocity act pass into law we would consider this. But if he wants something for nothing, we are not going to support it. Sorry.
This whole 'internet loophople' hoopla is just the relabeled 'gunshow loophole' that has already been discredited.
There simply is no federal requirement for a background check for private sales. It's not a loophole, it's the law. If you don't like it, take it up with your congressman in a rational and adult manner. Making up things like this simply makes you look stupid when you are caught, or talk to folks who know better.
The truth of the matter is that any firearms purchase across state lines requires shipment. None of the shipping companies will accept a firearm for shipment if either the sender or the recipient isn't a licensed dealer, who are required to do a background check.
Sneaking a shipment through may be possible, but post-911 I can't believe anyone who wasn't already a criminal would be desperate enough to try.
Within a state there is no requirement (unless by state law) for a background check between two private parties. This is the only way someone can purchase a firearm without a background check.
As mentioned, there is a felony law against selling to someone you believe cannot pass a check. It is also a felony already to buy a handgun in another state, even in a private sale.
So, it seems the author believes that the answer is to pass extremely restrictive new laws, instead of simply enforcing the laws already on the books. A few well publicized raids would solve the problem without requiring any additional legislation.
Oh, and another thing the author wasn't telling the truth about. This 'investigation' was not conducted by NYPD, but by private investigators hired by NY Mayor Bloomberg. That is the reason that no names are given in the 'report', because private investigators are simply citizens.
Since they are citizens and do not have police powers, they are equally guilty (and liable) for any purchase attempts (felony), and most likely for illegal wiretapping as well (misdemeanor or felony, depending on the state).
Is it a surprise they found exaclty the type of behavior their boss sent them to look for? I'd be surprised if they found anything else.
The legislation proposed by Mr Bloomberg is of course the elimination of private sales, and seems to be what this reporter believes is the correct response here.
So let me ask, because of the 'speeding ticket loophole' in NJ, should all car sales have to be through a car dealer? Should that car dealer be required to check the background of each person interested in buying the car? My guess is the answer would be 'no.
Yet cars kill far more people in a year than guns, and if you exclude gun deaths due to gang activity, it's not even a blip on the radar.
Last but not least, what does the death of Officer Figoski have to do with anything else in this article? Saying that the weapon used was purchased online is simply untrue. Even Mr Bloomberg doesn't go that far (again, do the research first!).
It's simply an attempt to manipulate people by their emotion on this subject, and is one of the most despiciable aspects of the anti-rights tactics. I'm suprised Representitive Giffords and Virgina Tech weren't also brought up.
Secondly, Mayors Against Illegal Guns does not have as many members as they state. Many mayors having dicovered how radical and irrational this group is have left this group but are being kept on the roster.