Undercover Sting Shows No Background Checks at Phoenix Gun Show

Investigators working for New York City, ran an undercover sting at a recent Phoenix Gun Show and found that people were able to purchase firearms without the seller first conducting  a background check.   I would guess this came as no surprise as the similar undercover sting operation was conducted in New York, where it was also discovered the vendors were not conducting background checks before selling guns to buyers.    Private gun dealers are exempt form the mandated background checks.

According to the article in Reuters, undercover operatives secretly videotaped transactions during the Crossroads of the West Gun Show, in Phoenix, AZ.

New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has been a proponent of stricter gun control laws, especially with respect to background checks.  Bloomberg and his supporters, which includes  the mayors of different cities and various church groups, have long stressed the importance of vetting out gun buyers not only with previous criminal records but those who may have mental illness issues.    He and his advocates would like to also see federal enforcement of background checks, that would include those convicted of substance issues  also prohibited from buying firearms.

As part of the sting operation on both Phoenix and Tucson, undercover investigators informed the gun vendors that as gun buyers they probably wouldn’t pass the background check.  The gun vendors sold them firearms anyway.

The recent shootings in Tucson has rekindled firearms and background checks as a hot button issue.  I have written about this issue several times, including one article entitled,  Bloomberg and Company Pushing for Gun Show Background Checks.

It’s now an topic that won’t be disappearing anytime soon.