Well, last week I participated in a gunshow loophole sale. I sold a fine Smith & Wesson 1911 to my oldest and dearest friend SCI-FI. I had picked it up last year from a friend who was selling it because he had fallen on hard times, and while I enjoyed shooting it immensely, it wasn't really for me - I've got a Colt Gold Cup that fulfills all my high(er)-end 1911 needs. SCI-FI had shot the SW1911 on several occasions; likes the 1911 platform (and attendant G-d's own pistol caliber); and had just recently gotten his MA LTC. So we met at my kitchen table:
ZOMG Kitchen Table Gun Shop!
And filled out the paperwork, exchanged pieces of paper with dead presidents on them, and facilitated the 100% legal transfer of a legally owned firearm from one legally permitted MA resident to another. All within the confines of the law, all perfectly legal under both MA state law and federal law.
Now, here's what the Bradys don't tell you about private sales in MA:
1. Both the seller and buyer must have their MA LTC. In MA, the LTC is issued at the whim and sole discretion of one person, usually the Chief of Police. Some towns do not issue unrestricted licenses at all - meaning that there is no concealed carry allowed for anyone in that town. Others make you jump through additional hoops like getting letters of recommendation or doctor's notes. You want to own a firearm, you jump through the hoops.
2. The transaction must, by state law, be recorded and filed within seven working days. Three copies of a Firearms Transaction Form must be filled out and signed: one for the buyer, one for the seller, and one that must be sent in to the Criminal History Systems Board (CHSB) within seven days. It is the seller's responsibility to accomplish this.
And yet they deducted points from the ranking given to Massachusetts on the basis of having a so-called "gunshow loophole. Never mind that both participants have to bow and scrape to get permits. Never mind that a government must be informed in writing. Never mind that if one of the two participants were to do something that would render them ineligible to purchase from an FFL (i.e. something that would be picked up by a background check), they would be forced, by law, to turn in their MA LTC and would therefor be unable to complete the private sale. IOW, there is no loophole.
Why, it's almost like the Brady Bunch is lying again!
That is all.
9 comments:
Of course you had points deducted! You were able to conduct the transaction AT ALL and that's what they care about.
Blogger won't accept an underline tag? How odd...
And in Ohio, none of that is needed, and you can sell the firearm with no paperwork at all.
Just like if you were selling anything else, like an XBox, Table, Saw or other household item.
"And in Ohio, none of that is needed, and you can sell the firearm with no paperwork at all."
Same in Virginia. I got my Savage 110 with all the "oversight" of Dad saying "You want it? Here." and handing it to me. Exactly the way it should be.
Frankly, I trust Dad's oversight more than I trust the state's.
It amuses me to think that some Brady, somewhere, must've burst a blood vessel at that moment.
"And in Ohio, none of that is needed, and you can sell the firearm with no paperwork at all."
I'm also in Ohio, and I've gotten not one, but TWO guns that way...as presents from my boyfriend! (Yes, I absolutely adore him. He knows just what a girl wants to unwrap under the tree!)
And in Ohio: When I need to fill the trunk of my Pontiac, I can go to a Gun Show, look for the other Slack-Jawed Troglodytes who have the "Not a Dealer" sign on their tables, haggle, place Inflated Green Backs in their Hands, and head for the door. Sometimes I also stop at the Ammo Supply people, and top off the Unholy Hollow Points or AP Rifle Rounds I might need to fill up the Home Arsenal.
Here in Buckeye Land, we call it Capitalism.
See, McThag's the only one who got my point...
Even with all the hoops that MA makes gun owners jump through, the Brady Bunch *STILL* dings MA for allowing private sales.
Even though both parties have to undergo more inspection just to get a permit than most folks do when they purchase a gun, the mere fact that the transaction is not blessed by a shaman with a piece of paper from the .gov is enough to garner a minus...
How do you compromise with such people?
And, more importantly, why would you ever want to?
I'll say the same thing to Sci-Fi as I did to you, and I did to the origonal owner when he brought it home.
NICE gun, good buy....and from an owner of two S&W1911 variants, TRY AND BREAK IT! ; ]
What about providing your blood sample for DNA analysis to look for genetic defects?
Did you provide a urine toxicology screen for drugs?
Where's your note from your anti-gun psychiatrist that you will not snap and mow down nuns because the parking space was taken by a jerk.
Do you have a Republican or a Tea Party card in your wallet? - [that's automatic disqualification]
Don't laugh, that is what will be considered "reasonable" if CSGV/BC ever get their way.
Hey, over here on the Left Coast we aren't allowed to have anything thats on the long list of no-nos.
Unless your one of our hag Senators.
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