As the nation debates proposed new gun restrictions after the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre, one issue is whether current law adequately regulates firearms dealers.
During a recent appearance on WJAR-TV's "10 News Conference," U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, spoke on the issue. Cicilline this year sponsored a bill, which has more than 60 co-sponsors, that would close what supporters refer to as the "fire sale loophole." The bill is still pending in a Congressional committee and it is unclear when, or if, it will be taken up.
"If you are a federally-licensed gun dealer and your license is revoked because you've engaged in misconduct or because you've sold guns to people who shouldn't have them (if) your license is revoked, your entire inventory under prevailing law is deemed your personal collection," Cicilline said. "You then can sell it free from any background checks. So we reward bad behavior."
When we contacted Cicilline’s office to check his claim, spokesman Richard Luchette referred us to the federal firearms law. We found Section 923 of Title 18, Chapter 44, which includes some of the regulations on federally-licensed firearms dealers.
But the law doesn’t specifically address what gun dealers who lose their federal licenses can do with the firearms in their inventory. That absence, according to Cicilline and other gun-control supporters, is a serious loophole, allowing dealers to transfer their inventory into a personal collection and then sell those firearms -- without requiring buyers to submit to a background check.
