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In the fight against gun violence, the government of US President Joe Biden is now also tackling the so-called ‘gun show loophole’. From now on, dealers selling weapons at such fairs, flea markets or even social media will also have to conduct a background check on the buyer. At gun stores, such an investigation is already legally required before every sale.
“Every year, thousands of unlicensed gun dealers sell thousands of guns without a single background check, including to buyers who would have failed if they had undergone a background check, including domestic abusers, violent criminals and even children,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris on a conference call Thursday. “That loophole in our federal background check system has caused untold pain and suffering.”
The Biden administration wants to put an end to that. The Ministry of Justice has finalized a regulation, which is expected to be published on Thursday in the Federal Register (comparable to the Belgian Official Gazette) by the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and to take effect thirty days later, writes news medium Politico. “If you sell guns commercially, you must be licensed and conduct a background check,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release.
“Every person in our nation has the right to live free from the horror of gun violence. I believe that. And yet, one in five Americans today has a family member killed by gun violence,” Harris said. “I believe that countless families and communities will be spared the horror and heartache of gun violence for years to come by this new rule,” the Vice President concluded.
The United States, a country with more firearms than inhabitants, has been suffering from gun violence for years. April 20 marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School by two students. So far this year, the Gun Violence Archive has counted 4,419 gun violence deaths and 106 mass shootings. The Gun Violence Archive labels a shooting incident a mass shooting if at least four people are injured or killed, not including the shooter.