So if you’re such a careful researcher, what’s your excuse for persisting in slinging around the “gun show loophole” line of BS?

Instantaneous, non-falsifiable authentication is effectively impossible, BTW. Much less the securability of info from the participants. The current system is not targeted for abuse because abuse of the system can be traced, only certain FFLs have access to NICS.

And it has to be free or *very* nominal cost at the transaction point. Not going to happen.

Either I can generate a fraudulent “sale” to find out if my neighbor is a prohibited person (and get that info with no context; either – did he hold up a bank 5 years ago and was paroled out, or did he yell at his girlfriend in high school and was forced to accept a misdemeanor DV conviction and was lautenberged?) or I can capture verified indentity information (name and SSN/Driver’s license# and address) for each sale of a firearm. Sure, it’s all kinds of illegal to be in the business of selling firearms without an FFL; but I just need to sell one firearm to the right person – if they pay by check I have WAY more than enough information to clear out their bank account through a little social engineering. You can’t trace me by my gun purchases – the feds can’t keep a registry of firearms, and it’s trivial to structure my purchases in such a way as to avoid tripping flags in the BG check system. Would take about a year, probably, to accumulate enough firearms “legally” to be worth opening a table at the local show (make sure there’s something “collectible” about them to be on the safe side, not terribly hard; and you don’t even have to worry about tripping flags. “Yes, Mr. Federal Agent, I was siezed by a burning desire to collect Saturday Night Specials”.). Then, when the jackboots come by and ask why I dumped 20-odd firearms in a day, I tell them I liquidated my collection on account of needing the money. If I’m smart enough to pour piss out of a boot without instructions on the heel, I stole someone’s identity (or identities) to purchase the handguns in the first place, and the question never arises.

Giving up the information necessary to do an accurate background check is giving up enough information to allow identity thieves to clean you out to the pocket lint. There is no way to design a system that would both allow a private seller to run a BG check on their own *and* to secure that information from the seller. There is no way for the buyer to know that the seller is who he says he is.

I grant that most criminals AREN’T smart enough to pour piss out of a boot *with* the instructions printed on the heel; but identity theft is a much bigger problem that firearms violence.

Actually, there is, if you engineer the system properly, which NICS is not.

Mandatory background check kills private sale. Period – there’s no way to secure the system against malicious use if there is no authentication for the seller. And lack of private sale increases the cost of low-end guns.

An example from my own experience – I know a guy who wants to sell a rifle; but he lives in a different state. I cannot (legally) purchase that rifle from him – we would have to engage the services of a FFL. That FFL is going to charge for the background check and a fee for his time. Around here that’s going to end up being the best part of $75. Which would about double what he wants for the rifle. And increase the hassle enormously since we have to go to someone with a fixed place of business.

And from what you describe, none of the sellers broke the law. They’re not required to verify your identity (in NH). The reason there isn’t a national law regulating INTRASTATE face-to-face firearms transfers is because there can’t be. The federal government doesn’t have that power. See: commerce clause.

You want universal background checks, I’m willing to talk, but there will be an awful lot I will ask for in return for that. Are you willing to talk about it?

To answer your question, yes, it doesn’t seem that guns are very regulated. I got one quite easily. I shouldn’t have been able to. I could have been a violent criminal, or mentally ill. A background check would have shed light on that, in addition to my out-of-state residency.

I don’t think it’s enough to slap penalties on possession. When I drove back to school, I managed to not get pulled over. I wouldn’t have been caught. The real problem is that I could get the gun. At the very least, it shows that some sellers are willing to break laws at shows.