.455_Hunter said:
In practical terms, the impact has been minimal. If you buy a gun from a non-dealer at the show, you fill out the standard BATF form and complete a back ground check using a common host dealer.
Well in California it certainly has an impact. The impact includes a few things. Let us start with price. What was once a free transfer between private parties now requires all the fees that buying the gun does. This is $35 in California for in state transfers.
If it was a familiy member, neighbor, or someone else etc you would already see them and could have made the trade without going out of the way. Now you must both go in person to a local FFL, typically a gun shop.
If you live in a more rural commute zone that can be some distance. You will probably spend a good $5 each way in gas to the nearest place, per person if you arrive in seperate vehicles.
So you are up near $50 additional per private transfer for the buyer, and added gas expense for the seller as well now.
That is just the financial cost.
That is all because the 'gun show loophole' was closed, and it applies to all private transfers and is not specific to gun shows.
There is also the time component, what was once a fast thing now results in addition to the original meeting to inspect or show interest in purchasing you must also go drive and spend time at the FFL to transfer. Thats more time out of the schedule, and requires a time when both people have some free time they are willing to make the trip.
In addition to that it results in partial registration of all firearms. There is paperwork linking that gun to who did the transfer that is with the FFL.
Many retail chain stores also have it in thier own private easy to browse or download databases. So a private entity has all your information electronically stored with your gun purchases long term. Just sitting there to be browsed, stolen, sold for marketing research, etc
So its not just available to the government, but your purchases are registered with the private corporations and on file too.
Well some people don't like all firearms registered for several reasons. One being because sometimes legislators decide to ban things. Not only does it make it easier, but emboldens them because of more presumed success if they already know who has what.
Closing private transfers also means if someone is on record as having bought a gun they didn't sell it to someone else, because if they did then there would be yet another record of it. So it is easier to narrow down who has exactly what guns.
4473 records are a lot more complete and a lot closer to registration without private transfers to make that data less reliable over time.