'Armslist is hardly the only source of guns in this country.' Judge dismisses suit against online...

If that logic applied, every liquor store would be out of business and there would be no vehicles for sale... not to mention every tool with a handle in a hardware/auto parts store. Anyway...

It does not cost a lot of money to file a lawsuit in most state courts. I have read that such fact allows lawyers to file lawsuits that have little to no merit just to try for an out of court settlement with the insurer which is paying for the defense. It is often cheaper to settle than to contest, and money talks the loudest. I suspect the OP report might be such a case. Glad that the judge shut it down fast.

I am wondering, based on the timing, IF this lawsuit influenced Armslist in making changes and ruining the site?

2 years ago, log onto Armslist and find 250-300 private sales, within 100 of miles. Today, lucky to find 20, which you can't see price, description or contact info, without paying a fee.

I had originally attributed the changes and fees to GREED. There may behave been other forces at work.

These type of suits should come with automatic counter suits. It would stop 90% of the BS.
Too easy to sue and no consequences.

There’s been a concentrated effort to flood the zone against Armslist with these frivolous lawsuits. Regardless, it takes a real lawyer to defend against them, and the hours add up quickly. Unfortunately Armslist made a bad decision when they started charging buyers as well as sellers. I would pay a fee to sell a gun, but I won’t pay one just to contact a seller. I fear the antis are going to win eventually as my use of Armslist has decreased dramatically since the change. I used to browse the KY listings almost every day, but I barely visit the site a couple of times a month now.

"Robert Schmidt wasn't allowed to have a gun due to an ongoing domestic violence case — also involving Sara Schmidt. Robert Schmidt used Armslist to connect with a 19-year-old private seller and bought a handgun for $550 in a Walmart parking lot a day before he fatally shot his wife. While federal law requires background checks for sales by licensed gun sellers, no such requirement exists for private sales."

Wow, really? You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

Idahou said:

Wow, really? You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

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Depends on one's state of residence. Here in TX, private transfers between Texas residents are unregulated, though many of us will ask for a bill of sale, ask to see (not copy) an ID to verify the buyer is indeed a TX resident, and ask if the buyer is prohibited. The buyer might lie, of course, but there is no check required. In PA, where I lived previously, long gun transfers between PA residents are unregulated but handguns have to be transferred through an FFL.

Sanity prevailed

Idahou said:

"Robert Schmidt wasn't allowed to have a gun due to an ongoing domestic violence case — also involving Sara Schmidt. Robert Schmidt used Armslist to connect with a 19-year-old private seller and bought a handgun for $550 in a Walmart parking lot a day before he fatally shot his wife. While federal law requires background checks for sales by licensed gun sellers, no such requirement exists for private sales."

Wow, really? You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

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In GA you can. Bought a few off armslist no paper work. Occasionally a bill of sale. In VA a few years ago we would require someone to show a voter registration card. Helped to weed felons. If I got bad vibes selling or buying I’ll simply walk away. Also meeting at the sheriffs office helps. If they act weird just ask them to run in and grab a background check. Think it’s $10.00. Haven’t had to do that yet.

1942bull said:

It does not cost a lot of money to file a lawsuit in most state courts. I have read that such fact allows lawyers to file lawsuits that have little to no merit just to try for an out of court settlement with the insurer which is paying for the defense. It is often cheaper to settle than to contest, and money talks the loudest. I suspect the OP report might be such a case. Glad that the judge shut it down fast.

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Attorney's have to be careful with filing overtly frivolous lawsuits, however. They are professionally obligated to do enough research to ensure any case they may file actually has some merit. If they don't, they can be censured (or whatever it's called for attorneys) and if it continues, they can be disbarred.

Idahou said:

Wow, really? You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

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No. Even if you live in a state that allows private sales you can’t sell to an underaged person, someone you know to be a prohibited person, or a resident of a different state.

@Elkins45 clarifies nicely.

Idahou said:

You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

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Yes, true in a majority of States.
Firearms are treated as any other tool or similar real property.
Chainsaws are easily far more dangerous, and no one bats an eye on a "private sale" of one.

This is ingrained in the US RKBA--which can seem very strange to Europeans, even those coming from "gun" cultures. But, historically, the US went nearly two hundred years without needing licensed gun dealers, too (FFL only came into existence in 1969, well within living memory). You could go to the local hardware store and buy a firearm. Or explosives if you needed to bust out a stump.

In the state of Kentucky you can buy a handgun at 18 through private sale. Long guns I believe it's 16, but I'm not sure on the latter.
Private sale requires no paperwork, questions, or checks. Been several times I've met in a parking lot somewhere and bought or sold or traded guns. Don't even know the persons name.

Handguns are no more restricted than rifles here. No registration, no NICS check, no sheriff approval needed for private sale.

I used to check armslist out. But I'm too stingy to pay now.

My buddy used armslist, then met a guy in Walmart parking lot and swapped a 1911 for an AR no questions asked back when armslist was in it's prime. I went with him.

That kind of stuff scares non gun people. It surprises them too. You'd be surprised the number of folks I meet that think guns have to be registered, handguns in particular. And they can't believe when I tell them I could sell them a gun no questions asked right then, as long as I didn't have reason to believe they are prohibited from owning a gun.

And the buyer dont need to register that gun?

Dont take it in bad way, for me its really hard to understand gun situation in states. On one hand i hear about plans to ban and restrict guns, on other there is this unregulated market and things like 80% lowers/guns.
I mean im gun guy, but i wouldnt like this over here

In Czech republic you need to have buying permit to every gun (or "major gun part") purchase and seller have to check your gun pass, then unregist gun and give back gun ID (every gun or its major part, if its not assembled, have gun ID card, excluding those in shops and etc), while buyer have to register gun and get his new gun ID

No, no gun registration of any kind in Kentucky. Be it a glock 17, an ar15, a Barrett 50bmg, a 22 single shot.

Only if you buy from a dealer do you have a background check and there is a record.

Again, depends on the state. In New York, handguns have to be individually listed on your pistol permit which is, in effect, registration. As a former resident of the state, I really hope the current case before SCOTUS makes getting a permit in NY easier. However, I doubt a win will eliminate the de facto registration.

Idahou said:

Wow, really? You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

Click to expand...

As mentioned, depends on the state.

I worked in LE in NYC, where if you saw a handgun on someone you could be 99.9% sure the bearer was either a cop or a criminal. Almost no carry permits in private hands, and just trying to legally buy a handgun was a bureaucratic nightmare. All handguns and long guns had to be registered and all sales through a dealer.

Just about everything else had some prohibition re: magazine capacity, illegal features on rifles, no silencers, automatic weapons, etc.

I then moved to state where the exact opposite was true, almost zero rules. No permits required to purchase a handgun, obtaining a carry permit was easy. Sales between private parties were legal and no registration required. No regulations on magazine capacity, type of rifle, etc. You want a silencer or a machine gun? If you can afford it, go buy one.

I have to say coming from an environment where almost nothing was possible and almost everything was illegal to such an open one made me uneasy. Anyone could be carrying a weapon! Now after having been here for about 7 years and seeing absolutely nothing extraordinary happening, I feel much calmer about it. lol

Speedo66 said:

As mentioned, depends on the state.

I worked in LE in NYC, where if you saw a handgun on someone you could be 99.9% sure the bearer was either a cop or a criminal. Almost no carry permits in private hands, and just trying to legally buy a handgun was a bureaucratic nightmare. All handguns and long guns had to be registered and all sales through a dealer.

Just about everything else had some prohibition re: magazine capacity, illegal features on rifles, no silencers, automatic weapons, etc.

I then moved to state where the exact opposite was true, almost zero rules. No permits required to purchase a handgun, obtaining a carry permit was easy. Sales between private parties were legal and no registration required. No regulations on magazine capacity, type of rifle, etc. You want a silencer or a machine gun? If you can afford it, go buy one.

I have to say coming from an environment where almost nothing was possible and almost everything was illegal to such an open one made me uneasy. Anyone could be carrying a weapon! Now after having been here for about 7 years and seeing absolutely nothing extraordinary happening, I feel much calmer about it. lol

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It’s almost as if the presence of firearms is immaterial unless there is also a desire to use them for criminal purposes.

I have acquaintances from other countries that once thought coming to the US was practically a death sentence because of all the gunfights. They all seemed surprised when I told them that only people who engage in the drug trade or live in a few bad neighborhoods in a few of the largest cities have anything resembling a statistically significant chance of being the victims of violence.

Elkins45 said:

I have acquaintances from other countries that once thought coming to the US was practically a death sentence because of all the gunfights. They all seemed surprised when I told them that only people who engage in the drug trade or live in a few bad neighborhoods in a few of the largest cities have anything resembling a statistically significant chance of being the victims of violence.

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That is how things are here in Missouri too. Outside of Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield, the chances of getting shot by a criminal are very low.

Idahou said:

Wow, really? You can just legally sell weapon to anybody if you are not licenced gun seller?

Click to expand...

Yes for the most part, depending on the state you live in, it is that easy. We still must follow federal laws and one can not sell to a minor or knowingly sell to anyone that is otherwise prohibited from owning/possessing firearms. In most states there are no requirements for any type of background check for private sales. Most law abiding citizens will check residency and ask the buyer if they can legally own a gun. And in states that have conceal carry permits, a seller sometimes asks to see the buyer's CCW permit too.

Private sales are fine in most states as long as both the buyer and seller reside in the same state. If the buyer lives in a different state than the seller, then the gun must be transferred through a licensed dealer.

I personally don't have a problem with private sales as long as the laws are followed. And it has been proven that gun ownership and conceal carry does help reduce crime. Criminals do not like armed victims. We can use St. Louis, Mo and Chicago, Ill. as an example, they both have some pretty restrictive gun laws and both have one of the highest murder rates in the entire country.

I've bought a few here in Ohio. Meet someone, 10 minutes later after looking it over, hand over cash, get in my car and home I go. Sales between adults, and I am not prohibited from possessing firearms. No permits, nothing needed except the agreement of $$ for the firearm.

We do have a website through our state Attorney General's office that allows us to type in a forearm serial number and our Bureau of Criminal Investigation files can be scanned for possible hits on it. It's limited to Ohio entries, but it's better than nothing.

https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Law-Enforcement/Search-the-Ohio-Stolen-Guns

Elkins45 said:

It’s almost as if the presence of firearms is immaterial unless there is also a desire to use them for criminal purposes.

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OH recently changed it's very restrictive knife laws that included a prohibition on automatic knives. It was hard to say what was legal or illegal because the law was so ill written and ambiguous.

The changed law now pretty much says the only knives that are illegal are the ones used in a crime.

Despite the hand wringing and forecasts of buckets of blood in the streets from the loosened laws, shockingly, that hasn't happened.

Speedo66 said:

he changed law now pretty much says the only knives that are illegal are the ones used in a crime.

Despite the hand wringing and forecasts of buckets of blood in the streets from the loosened laws, shockingly, that hasn't happened.

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Funny how that works out isn't it. We heard the same things when trying to pass concealed carry and shortly after it finally did pass here in Missouri. Needless to say, the "deadly blood bathes" did NOT happen.

The tools used to kill are irrelevant. People intent on killing will find a way. Therefore every one of us is responsible for our own safety and access to firearms for self protection is imperative.

Idahou said:

And the buyer dont need to register that gun?

Dont take it in bad way, for me its really hard to understand gun situation in states. On one hand i hear about plans to ban and restrict guns, on other there is this unregulated market and things like 80% lowers/guns.
I mean im gun guy, but i wouldnt like this over here

In Czech republic you need to have buying permit to every gun (or "major gun part") purchase and seller have to check your gun pass, then unregist gun and give back gun ID (every gun or its major part, if its not assembled, have gun ID card, excluding those in shops and etc), while buyer have to register gun and get his new gun ID

Click to expand...

We do have laws that govern private sales of weapons. If you are a convicted felon it is illegal for you own, purchase or possess a firearm. If you are underage in accordance with applicable federal or state laws you cannot legally own, purchase or possess a firearm.
Question, do all these restrictions in your country on legal ownership of firearms prevent criminals or people with criminal intent from obtaining a gun?