True Crime

The single largest gap in the federal background check requirement is that unlicensed, private sellers are not required to conduct background checks. This means that, unless state law requires a background check for these sales, convicted felons, domestic abusers, and other ineligible people can legally buy guns—even though they would fail a background check if purchasing from an FFL. Fortunately, 21 states have closed the federal loophole to require unlicensed sellers to conduct background checks on some or all firearms purchasers. This issue is addressed in detail in our summary on Universal Background Checks.