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The Biden administration is poised to expand background checks on firearm purchases and close what is known as the "gun show loophole" in a move that Republicans are already pushing back on.
Under federal law, licensed gun dealers must run a background check on a potential buyer before making a sale. But unlicensed dealers who sell firearms outside of physical stores — like at a gun show or a market, or online — are not required to conduct background checks.
Under the new rule, anyone “engaged in the business” of selling firearms for profit must register for a federal dealer's license and conduct background criminal and mental health checks on buyers.
Federal and state governments have struggled to enact meaningful restrictions on access to guns despite the staggering rates of gun violence in the U.S. In 2022, after 19 children and two adults were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which went some ways in addressing the issue. But it still fell short of requiring background checks on all firearm purchases and banning assault weapons.
The new rule, which implements a change in the 2022 legislation, is set to go into effect next month. But it will almost certainly face legal challenges: Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who worked on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, have said they will introduce a joint resolution to stop the rule.
According to a recent analysis by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, unlicensed dealers are the biggest source of illegally trafficked firearms in the country, amounting to more than 68,000 firearms traceable back to unlicensed dealers from 2017 to 2021.
Over the years, multiple mass shooters who'd been turned away by licensed dealers later obtained their firearms through private sellers who did not run background checks — including in the 1999 Columbine High shooting, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.