NCJ Number
150790
Date Published
1994
Length
119 pages
Annotation
This hearing before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice examines flaws in the licensing and regulation of gun dealers.
Abstract
The subcommittee chairman notes that in practice the system of Federal licensing makes it possible for anyone who can afford the $10 annual fee to get a license to sell guns. The licensee does not have to operate a store or show compliance with State law, nor give sufficient evidence that the gun inventory will be kept secure. Further, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the agency responsible for monitoring gun dealers, is prohibited by statute from collecting gun records until after the dealer has gone out of business. They can only inspect a gun store once a year. Examples of rogue gun dealers are cited by the subcommittee chairman. Testimony on this issue is presented by the president of Handgun Control, Inc.; an attorney involved in the case of a firearms death that resulted from a gun purchase; a representative of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; a representative of the National Rifle Association; a representative of the Maryland State Police Licensing Division; and a representative of the New York City Police Department. Witnesses present their views as to how Federal gun licensing can be reformed to help prevent persons bent on the criminal use of firearms from obtaining them from licensed gun dealers.