Violence Policy Center

VPC

IndexOnline NewsPress ReleasesFact SheetsPublicationsLinksHomeAbout VPC
Looking for something?

The Endgame

Any Settlement of Firearms Litigation Must Address Three Specific Areas of Gun Industry Conduct and Include a Strict Enforcement Mechanism

II. Gun Industry Distribution Methods

A. Stop Selling to Non-Storefront Dealers

Example: "Kitchen-Table" Dealers

Manufacturers should include in their distribution agreements with wholesalers provisions prohibiting sales to non-stocking, "kitchen-table" gun dealers. Such dealers usually sell guns directly out of their homes. Many of these dealers may be out of compliance with relevant state and local zoning and tax laws. In the early 1990s, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) documented the role that kitchen-table dealers play in supplying guns to criminals. ATF's Project Detroit identified 13 federal firearms licensees who were knowingly supplying firearms to criminals in the Detroit metropolitan area. Of those 13, eight were "kitchen-table" dealers.

Example: Dealers Who Sell At Gun Shows

Manufacturers should also include in their distribution agreements with wholesalers provisions prohibiting sales to dealers who sell at gun shows. Some manufacturers already include such prohibitions in their distributor agreements. The problems associated with gun shows are well documented and the climate created by competition from unlicensed "hobbyists" encourages dealers to engage in illegal sales.5 Furthermore, federal licensees are prohibited from obtaining a dealer's license solely for the purpose of doing business at a gun show. To aid enforcement of this requirement, manufacturers and distributors should require that dealers provide a photograph of their storefront, a requirement that many distributors already enforce.


B. Establish Systems to Identify "Bad Apple" Dealers

Example: Monitor the Volume of Tracing Requests Received for Individual Dealers

Manufacturers should establish a monitoring system to identify distributors and dealers to which a significant number of crime guns are traced. Since manufacturers are the first point of contact for crime gun traces, they are in a good position to keep records that will help to identify distributors and dealers that regularly transfer guns traced to crime scenes. Manufacturers should also monitor buying patterns for specific classes and models of firearm to identify suspicious buying patterns, e.g. a distributor buys hundreds of Intratec assault pistols at one time. Manufacturers should agree to terminate distributors and dealers where there is evidence that they are knowingly or negligently supplying guns to the criminal market or to underage buyers.


C. Ensure That Dealers Are in Compliance With Federal and Local Laws

Example: Require Proof of Federal, State, and Local Licenses for Each Sale

Federal law requires that dealers comply with all relevant state and local laws. This relatively recent requirement stems from research done in the early 1990s demonstrating that a significant proportion of licensed gun dealers were operating out of their homes, not in compliance with state and local zoning, tax, or business licensing laws, and unknown to local law enforcement. Manufacturers should reinforce the federal law by selling only to distributors that require all dealers purchasing from them to provide a signed copy of the dealer's Federal Firearms License, a copy of a state sales tax permit, and proof of a state and local business license. These are requirements already enforced by many distributors.



5) See e.g. Violence Policy Center, Gun Shows in America: Tupperware Parties for Criminals (1996), and U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Gun Shows: Brady Checks and Crime Gun Traces, January 1999.



Go to III. Gun Industry Marketing Practices

Back to The Endgame Table of Contents



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.






All contents � 1999 Violence Policy Center