[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 167 (Thursday, November 21, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         COMMON SENSE GUN SALES

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as the holiday season draws close, millions 
of Americans are shopping online for clothes, toys, and other holiday 
gifts. But alarmingly, at the same time, convicted felons, domestic 
abusers, terrorists, and other dangerous people are able to go online 
and just as easily shop for something else: guns.
  Studies have shown that thousands of firearms are bought and sold 
online every year. Many of these sales exploit loopholes in the 
background check laws designed to keep our communities safe. Under 
current law, an individual buying a gun at a brick-and-mortar, 
Federally licensed firearm dealer must pass a simple and quick 
background check to make sure that, among other things, they haven't 
been convicted of a felony, or aren't a domestic abuser, or haven't 
been adjudicated to be dangerously mentally ill. Department of Justice 
statistics have shown that Brady background checks have blocked more 
than two million instances in which a dangerous individual attempted to 
obtain a deadly weapon. But a significant loophole in this law is now 
well known: felons and other prohibited persons can simply go to a 
``private seller,'' as opposed to a licensed dealer, and buy a gun 
without a background check.
  It has been estimated that as of September 2013, about 67,000 
firearms were listed for sale online from private sellers. Many of the 
people buying guns from these sellers have no intention of committing 
any sort of crime and would easily pass a background check. But as a 
disturbing new report recently released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns 
makes clear, all too often, the Internet serves as a black market where 
dangerous individuals can get their hands on weapons. According to this 
report, 1 in 30 would-be firearm purchasers on www.armslist.com has a 
criminal record that legally prohibits them from purchasing or owning a 
gun.
  This means, according to the report, that more than 25,000 guns of 
almost any kind may be transferred to prohibited persons through 
www.armslist.com in any given year. At any time, a convicted felon can 
log on and purchase a military-style weapon from a ``private seller.'' 
For example, one ``private party'' listing on the website touts a 
military-style semiautomatic rifle as the ``World War III special,'' 
and boasts that the weapon can ``provide rapid defensive fire when 
needed.'' Such a weapon has no sporting purpose. It is designed to kill 
as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Should it really be 
available for anyone to purchase, at any time, without a background 
check?
  This leads to dangerous and sometimes tragic outcomes. For example, 
the report cites a man from North Carolina who, earlier this year, 
posted an ad on the Web site seeking to purchase a military-style 
assault rifle specifically from a private seller. The investigation 
found that this prospective buyer had previously been convicted of 
several felonies, including robbery with a dangerous weapon, and would 
have failed a background check. In another case, Zina Daniel of 
Wisconsin obtained a restraining order against her husband which 
legally prohibited him from purchasing a firearm. Days later, the 
husband bought a semiautomatic handgun from a dealer through 
armslist.com, and went to find Ms. Daniel at her workplace. There, he 
used the weapon to murder her and two others, injure four more, and 
kill himself.
  Had these individuals been confronted with a simple background check 
at a brick-and-mortar gun shop, they may have been turned away. Why 
should a purchase from the online marketplace be any different? Study 
after study, conducted by organizations across the political spectrum, 
have shown that around 90 percent of the American public supports the 
enactment of background checks on all gun sales. The vast majority of 
our constituents agree that wherever someone is buying a gun--at the 
shop around the corner, from the Internet, from a gun show, or even 
from the back of a van in a dark alley--they should be able to prove 
that they can pass a simple and quick background check.
  We must not wait until the next unstable individual buys a deadly 
weapon online and turns it on our communities. We should act to protect 
our families, our neighbors, and our loved ones. I urge my colleagues 
to take up and pass background check legislation to shut down the 
online black market for illegal firearm purchases. It's just common 
sense.

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