By Jeff Zimba
Being very short of facts but ridiculously long on emotions, there seems to be no bottom to the barrel where the antigun crowd pulls out their lame arguments against firearms ownership.
It seems as though every year, in their desperation, they create another problem that needs immediate legislative attention. To accompany the newly invented “National crisis” new buzzwords and catch phrases must be invented as well. This is the process that brought us such fictional items as “Cop-Killer Bullets”, “Semi-Automatic Assault Weapons”, The “Plastic, Undetectable Handgun”, and the “Gun Show Loophole”.
One of the entrées on the crisis du jour menu today is the dreaded “Internet Gun Sale Crisis”. Some of our legislators, either through misinformation or just sheer ignorance, believe that because business’s and individuals post firearms for sale via the internet that there is a massive proliferation of illegal gun sales that never existed before. Rather than just stepping back and examining the foolishness of this claim, many jump feet first into “crisis mode” and demand restrictive legislation.
Lets shoot this latest nonexistent crisis full of holes. First and foremost, posting a firearm for sale over the internet is no different than placing a classified ad in your local newspaper. When a firearm is sold, whether the seller is an individual or licensed firearms dealer, Local, State and Federal firearms laws must be adhered to. The medium the firearm was advertised in has absolutely no bearing what so ever. To believe any different is laughable.
When a firearm is sold to an individual in another State, the seller has to ship it to a Federally licensed firearms dealer in the area of the buyer. The buyer then picks up the firearm from the licensed dealer, and the transaction is treated just like any other new gun sale. All Local, State and Federal laws necessary for the dealer to comply with are applied as usual. This is it. No problem, no loophole, and certainly no crisis. As a matter of fact, nothing has changed at all.
All the internet has done for firearms sales, is to expand the advertising to a larger audience. All the rules are exactly the same. Try and imagine for a second, the foolishness of applying different laws to specific forms of advertising. Think of the questionnaire: Question 1: If you learned of this firearm through your local dealer, check box 1 and proceed to question 2. If you learned of this firearm through your local classified newspaper, check box number 2 and proceed to question 2. If you learned of this firearm through word of mouth, check box number 3 and proceed to question 2. If you learned of this firearm through an ad in a national classified ad, check box number 4 and proceed to question 2. If you learned of this firearm through an ad on the internet, check box number 5 and proceed to question 2…
I have several friends who have purchased and sold firearms through internet auctions. I have found some pretty good deals out there myself. Most deals I have heard of have ended with satisfaction to both parties as far as price, condition, shipping, etc. Like anything else, it is probably a good idea to try and deal with those who have a good track record or reputation. I would advise checking on the “feedback” of any potential buyer or seller as it seems to be a fairly accurate indicator of past business deals.
Below are a few auction sites that came up when I typed “Gun Auction” on the search engine “Dogpile”. The only one I have had any personal experience with is Auction Arms, and I never had an unpleasant experience with them. This is not an endorsement of any of these auction sites, just a listing to get you started in the right direction. Happy buying and selling.
Bid For Gunshttp://bid4guns.com/index.cfm
Auction Arms
http://www.auctionarms.com/
Ebanghttp://www.ebang.com/
Gun Broker
http://www.gunbroker.com/
Armsbayhttp://www.investorseek.com/auction/index.html
Gunhouse.comhttp://www.gunhouse.com/
Guns For Sale
http://www.gunsforsale.com/
GunShow Auctionhttp://www.gunshowauction.com/
For The Hunt
http://www.forthehunt.com/
| This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N12 (September 2001) |
