UCLA Study Finds Gun Dealers Willing to Aid Illegal Gun Sales

6/17/2003

From: Blaine Rummel, 202-408-0061 ext. 118, for Justice for Gun Victims

WASHINGTON, June 17 -- As Congress considers legislation that would immunize gun dealers from legal accountability, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles showed more than half of the gun stores surveyed were willing to facilitate illegal "straw" purchases.

A "straw" purchase is a transaction in which the actual purchaser uses someone else to undergo a background check and buy the handgun for him/her. The study is the first to analyze the willingness of dealers to engage in such sales, which are illegal under federal law.

The peer-reviewed research, which appears in this week's edition of the journal Injury Prevention, studied 120 gun dealers randomly selected from 20 major U.S. cities. In telephone interviews, undercover researchers asked gun dealers for advice on purchasing a handgun under one of three scenarios. Two of the scenarios suggested legal transactions. In the third scenario, the researcher asked about purchasing a handgun for someone else who "needs me to buy her/him a handgun" -- a clear suggestion that the transaction was likely an illegal straw purchase. Key findings of the study included:

-- 52.5 percent of the 120 gun dealers surveyed were willing to help a potential handgun buyer purchase the handgun for someone else, even though such transactions are illegal.

-- 20 percent of gun dealers in a smaller follow-up survey were willing to sell a handgun to a researcher who said "My girl/boyfriend needs me to buy her/him a handgun because she/he isn't allowed to." One gun dealer responded "(A)s long as you have no record, you can come down here and pick one up and put it in your name." -- indicating a clear willingness to facilitate a blatantly illegal sale.

-- Gun dealers in the Northeast (Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia) were least likely to facilitate illegal sales; dealers in the West (Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego) were more likely; dealers in the South (Memphis, Nashville, Jacksonville, Oklahoma City, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, Fort Worth) and Midwest (Cleveland, Indianapolis) were the most likely to facilitate illegal sales.

"In the current regulatory environment, gun dealers are the last line of defense between handguns and the straw purchasers who transfer them to criminals," said Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the organization spearheading the Justice for Gun Victims campaign. "This study shows the recklessness of many dealers -- recklessness that would be rewarded if Congress grants dirty dealers perpetual legal immunity."

Legislation to Protect Gun Dealers Moving Through Congress

The study comes as Congress considers broadly shielding gun dealers, distributors, and manufacturers from legal accountability -- even if they act recklessly. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the measure, H.R. 1036, on April 9, 2003. The Senate may act on its companion, S. 659, within weeks.

President Bush has vowed to sign the bill, which is the National Rifle Association's top legislative priority.

The Sniper Gun Store

The study also comes one week after revelations that Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, the Tacoma, Wash., gun store from which the DC-area Bushmaster sniper rifle originated, was also linked to the 1999 mass shooting at a Los Angeles Jewish Community Center. The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence released FOIA information it had obtained on the gun store, which showed tell-tale signs of gun trafficking.

Finally, the study reinforces recent comments by Robert A. Ricker, a former high-ranking NRA official and gun industry lobbyist, who blew the whistle on the industrys actions that aid criminal access to guns. Ricker said in an affidavit that many industry insiders maintain a "see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil" mentality when it comes to business practices that facilitate criminal gun access.

About Justice for Gun Victims

Justice for Gun Victims is a collaboration of domestic violence prevention, civil rights, and gun violence prevention organizations dedicated to stopping the gun lobby's attempt to grant the firearms industry legal immunity. For additional information, visit http://www.justiceforgunvictims.org.