Dingell Amendment Opens Even More Gun Show Loopholes

Further Undermine 30-Year-Old Ban on Interstate Gun Sales

H.R. 2122 would weaken the 30-year-old ban on the interstate sale of handguns by allowing dealers to ship firearms purchased at a gun show to buyers in any state. The Dingell Amendment goes even further, allowing two dealers to conduct business in a state where neither one is licensed. Such a radical shift will completely undermine the ability of individual states to regulate dealers or enforce state gun laws. This erosion of current firearms law is so significant it negates any improvement under H.R. 2122.

Allow Informal Sales to Escape Background Check

The Dingell Amendment requires that a gun buyer and seller actually contract for the purchase or transfer of a firearm at the gun show itself for the background check requirement to apply. If the seller and buyer discussed the sale but waited until after the gun show to complete it, it could proceed without any background check.

Further Shrinks Waiting Period for Incomplete Background Checks

The Dingell Amendment reduces to 24 hours the time to complete a background check where the result of an "instant" check is inconclusive. When checks produce inconclusive results under current law, authorities have three business days to investigate further and ascertain whether the purchaser is a felon, a juvenile, or otherwise disqualified from buying the firearm. At the end of this period, the seller is allowed to give the gun to the buyer. The FBI estimates that more than 17,000 people who have been stopped over the last six months by the current Brady Law system would have received their guns under the Dingell Amendment's 24-hour rule.

Gives Special Precedence to Gun Show Checks