04. Virtually anyone can buy a gun without a background check
Federal law requires that anyone purchasing a firearm from a federally licensed dealer submit to a background check. But private sales, like many sales at gun shows and increasingly on the internet, do not require a background check.
A 1997 National Institute of Justice survey found that around 40 percent of all firearm sales are private sales and therefore take place without any kind of background check. This is a loophole used by many people who could not pass a background check. In 2009, undercover stings at gun shows in Nevada, Ohio, and Tennessee revealed that 63 percent of private sellers sold guns to purchasers who stated that they would be unable to pass a background check. And a 2011 study of internet gun sales found that 62 percent of sellers agreed to sell a gun to a buyer who said he probably couldn’t pass a background check.