Gun show check bill moves along
Critics say there's no proof measure would reduce crime
By MELISSA SANTOS
P-I REPORTER
OLYMPIA -- Legislators are pushing forward with efforts to close the gun show loophole, but critics still say there's no loophole to close.
A bill that would require all sellers at gun shows to conduct background checks passed out of committee Tuesday, but Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said it's uncertain whether it will reach the Senate floor.
Gun control proponents say Washington law allows people to buy firearms at gun shows without going through a federally required background check, an oversight that could allow criminals to purchase guns.
But opponents argue that gun show sales don't contribute to gun violence, and the proposed bill would only inconvenience law-abiding citizens who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Sen. Jim Clements, R-Selah, said targeting gun show sales is a knee-jerk reaction to last year's mass shootings on Capitol Hill and at the Jewish Federation Building in Seattle, and would be a symbolic move rather than a practical one.
Clements, who voted against Senate Bill 5197 in committee, said it's unclear how many guns used in crimes in Washington are purchased by criminals at gun shows.
"Rather than going into the world of supposition, I'm going to propose some legislation that goes on the facts," Clements said. "I would just as soon have some clarity to all this that allows people to look at these issues singularly and debate them."
In Oregon, where voters approved an initiative to close the gun show loophole in 2000, the effect of the measure is less than clear. Lawmakers who supported it say it has made a huge difference, but Portland police are unsure the city's lower crime rates mean fewer criminals are getting their hands on guns.
Before Oregon implemented its gun show loophole measure, which 62 percent of voters approved, Portland police spent three years tracing guns used in gang violence. Of those that could be traced, they found that 27 percent of them came from gun shows.
advertising
"Gun shows were always two things: a fun thing for a family to do on a Saturday morning, and a place for criminals to get guns," said Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who is chairwoman of Oregon's Senate Judiciary Committee. "Now it's only one of those things."
Portland police spokesman Brian Schmautz said the city has seen reduced crime since the measure passed, but its criminals don't seem to have any more difficulty getting guns than before.
"Our crime numbers are down, but gang cops are not all of a sudden saying that there are fewer guns in the gang community," he said.
Sen. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, said the situation is different in Washington.
All gun shows in the greater Seattle area are put on by Washington Arms Collectors, a members-only organization that lets only those who have gone through a background check buy or sell firearms there. Elsewhere in the state, any licensed dealer who sells at a gun show is also required to conduct background checks on potential buyers, but private parties who wish to sell there are not.
For private parties, the fees associated with conducting background checks would cut into their bottom line and could be passed on to customers in the form of higher prices, Holmquist said. She cited a federal study from 2002 that found that less than 1 percent of guns used in violent crimes came from gun shows.
"The term 'gun show loophole' is a fabrication," Holmquist said. "It's clear the laws that apply elsewhere in the state also apply at gun shows. This bill is just going to impose dealer restrictions on private citizens who aren't dealers.
"It's law-abiding folks who frequent gun shows, not criminals."
In Seattle, where aggravated assaults with guns rose 19 percent last year, Mayor Greg Nickels and police Chief Gil Kerlikowske are both strong supporters of the bill.
Eighteen other states have enacted legislation to require background checks on all purchasers at gun shows.
Kerlikowske said that because sales at gun shows by non-dealers aren't carefully documented, the absence of statistical evidence that they supply shooters in Washington is a moot point.
"If there is no record of the sale and no background check, then there is little evidence of the number of sales that were denied or of the number of crime guns that come from gun shows," he said.
"This legislation will fix that."
Even if the bill makes it to the Senate floor and passes, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, said last month that it doesn't have enough support to pass the House.
He said gun control issues are divisive even among Democrats, who have a large majority in both houses this year.
But Burdick said politicians struggle with gun control measures more than the public. A telephone survey conducted in November found that 81 percent of Washington voters supported criminal checks on all gun show buyers, and that rural voters were as likely to support such measures as city dwellers.
"Most gun owners are reasonable people, and they favor reasonable laws," Burdick said. "If you agree with background checks in order to prevent criminals from getting guns, and then you go to a gun show and see these really high-caliber weapons being sold to people, no questions asked -- for most people, it's a no-brainer."
Sponsor Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, said the bill's only intention is to make sure standard background checks -- which prevented sales of 2,400 firearms to convicted felons and people with mental illness in Washington last year -- happen with every sale.
"This is not an expansion of any gun restrictions," he said.
Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said anything the Legislature can do to control who gets their hands on firearms in Washington is worth pursuing.
"It's one of the measures people in my district have felt they needed in a real way," Murray said. "This is one small step toward telling people who lost their loved ones on Capitol Hill that we are finally doing something."
P-I reporter Melissa Santos can be reached at 360-943-8311 or
[email protected].
