Eleventh-Hour NRA Amendment to Justice Department Appropriations Bill Would License Tens of Thousands of New "Kitchen-Table" Gun Dealers

Amendment Would Also Severely Weaken Gun Dealer Oversight By ATF

WASHINGTON, DC—A National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed amendment inserted by Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) at the last minute into fiscal year 2004 appropriations legislation for the Commerce, Justice and State Departments would dramatically increase the number of "kitchen-table" gun dealers across America, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) charged today. The surprise amendment, adopted last week by the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 31 to 30, would require the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to issue Federal Firearms Licenses (FFLs) to "kitchen-table" gun dealers, applicants who do not actually run stocking gun stores, but instead operate out of homes and offices.

The Clinton Administration implemented policies to significantly reduce the number of illegitimate gun dealers, which numbered more than 245,000 in 1994. At that time, there were more gun dealers in America than gas stations. Today, there are approximately 58,500 gun dealers in the U.S. Efforts to reduce the number of "kitchen-table" dealers occurred after studies—including the VPC's 1992 More Gun Dealers Than Gas Stations—and anecdotal evidence showed that "kitchen-table" dealers contributed heavily to criminal gun trafficking. Many of these dealers sold guns out of cars or apartments in urban areas where gun possession is tightly regulated. A chart showing the drop in the number of dealers in your state from 1994 to 2003 is below.

Tiarht's amendment would prohibit ATF from refusing gun dealer licenses to applicants "due to a lack of business activity." Current federal law requires dealers to engage in a specified level of business activity to ensure that licensees are actually engaged in legitimate business. Prior to 1994, when the Clinton Administration began vigorously enforcing this "engaged in the business" requirement, a large percentage of gun dealers held licenses only to buy guns at wholesale prices and acquire them for themselves, friends, or neighbors. Others used their licenses to funnel guns to gangs, drug dealers, and other criminals.

"The Tiarht amendment will take us back to the days when America had more gun dealers than gas stations and `kitchen-table' dealers were a main source of guns for criminals. The House of Representatives should reject Representative Tiarht's dangerous proposal to balloon the number of licensed gun dealers and subvert ATF's already weak oversight authority," states VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand.

The amendment would also severely undermine the ability of ATF to ensure that gun dealers are obeying federal gun laws. ATF would be limited in its ability to obtain records of firearm acquisition and disposition from dealers. In addition, the agency would be barred from implementing regulations to monitor dealer inventory. Such information may be essential in determining how criminals gain access to firearms—a matter still under investigation in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper case.

National and Selected States	Total of Type 1 Federal Firearms License (FFL) Holders, January 1994	Total of Type 1 Federal Firearms License (FFL) Holders, May 2003	Number Decrease From 1994 to 2003	Percent Decrease From 1994 to 2003
U.S. Total	245,628	58,520	187,108	76%
Alabama	3,235	832	2,403	74%
Arkansas	3,096	775	2,321	75%
California	20,148	2,842	17,306	86%
Florida	9,970	1,721	8,249	83%
Georgia	5,589	1,272	4,317	77%
Idaho	2,295	708	1,587	69%
Illinois	8,959	2,120	6,839	76%
Iowa	3,877	1,247	2,630	68%
Kansas	3,653	995	2,658	73%
Kentucky	4,679	1,111	3,568	76%
Louisiana	4,864	1,058	3,806	78%
Michigan	12,076	2,713	9,363	78%
Mississippi	3,080	848	2,232	72%
Missouri	7,624	2,050	5,574	73%
New York	9,726	2,231	7,495	77%
North Carolina	6,466	1,505	4,961	77%
Oklahoma	4,024	1,030	2,994	74%
Pennsylvania	11,799	3,004	8,795	75%
Tennessee	4,736	1,221	3,515	74%
Texas	18,041	4,321	13,720	76%
Virginia	6,942	1,564	5,378	77%
Washington	5,724	1,007	4,717	82%
West Virginia	3,234	839	2,395	74%

 

The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.