UPDATE: to Craigslist Gun Buying Challenge (Armslist)

[IdaBriggs]

A nice discussion on buying guns from Craigslist was held here:

"A Challenge: Go to your local craigslist, and type in "GUNS" (in the For Sale section)"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023684899

Cheers to poster "LittleBlue" for noting the existence of "Armslist" - which is now being cited by Mayor Bloomberg.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bloomberg-warns-illegal-online-gun-105653059.html

Bloomberg warns of illegal online gun sales, urges Congress to require background checks

NEW YORK (AP) -- Thousands of people with criminal records could illegally purchase guns on just one classified ad website, according to an investigation commissioned by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, conducted a four-month investigation of Armslist.com, which he dubbed "the Craigslist for national gun sales."

The pro-gun control group combed the public ads from people looking to purchase firearms. Using the contact information posted by the would-be buyers, Bloomberg's advocacy group secretly ran background checks of about 600 people and found that 1 in 30 of them had a felony record, which excludes them from buying firearms.

Bloomberg's group then extrapolated the data to conclude the site could have more than 25,000 illegal buyers in a year.

(more at link)

[hack89]

1. Sales from those sites are not exempt from current law regarding background checks

if they cross state lines they have to go through a gun dealer.

The only sales exempt from checks are when the seller and buy are live in the same state and the transaction takes place in that state.

UBCs are necessary - my state has them and it works well.

[MineralMan]

2. It depends on the state.

California, for example, requires all firearms sales to go through a firearms dealer and whatever waiting period is required. That does not mean that private sales do not take place there without following that law. But, the law exists.

[hack89]

4. True. Some states have more stringent requirements

but there seems to be an impression that you can just go online and order a gun from anywhere without a background check.

[pipoman]

5. So what do you do to combat it?

Make it double illegal?

[MineralMan]

6. I don't do anything to combat it. I'm just posting information.

You are trying to draw conclusions about me from a post that is nothing but information. That's a mistake. Information has no agenda.

[Lurks Often]

3. MAIG is not an objective source

Using MAIG to as a source is akin to using the NRA as a source.

Any firearm sold that crosses a state line has to go through someone with a Federal Firearms License (FFL).

Any firearm sold that does not cross a state line is subject to the applicable state laws, which vary from state to state.

[Lee-Lee]

7. I never used that site before, but just looked

I am curious from the very limited amount of contact info on there how they ran reliable background checks- that require at a minimum a name and date of birth or DL number or SSN.

I also have to ask- if they found 600 felons actively seeking guns, did they refer all those cases to law enforcement? If so, what were the results? If not, what the hell, why would an organization supposedly all about stopping gun crime not turn evidence of attempted crimes over to LE?

[pintobean]

8. "could illegally purchase"

The investigation did not check those looking to sells guns and was limited to Armslist.com. It could not determine how many, if any, of the prospective felon buyers actually purchased weapons.

I don't think we need more legislation to prevent potential purchases that they admit are already illegal. I'm sure it doesn't surprise anyone that Bloomy and his organization would invade the privacy of people who aren't even accused of doing anything illegal. They're just following the example set by the NSA.