Gun Control Reform Activism

From the link in the OP;

The AR-15 was prohibited from 1994 to 2004 via the assault weapons ban. Gun manufacturers promptly reintroduced the AR-15 after the ban expired, and sales went way up.

This is one of the "facts" I most often see people get wrong. Not a single gun was confiscated as a result of the AWB94. They were all grandfathered in.

Manufacturers promptly introduced versions of the AR-15 and other rifles without threaded muzzles / flash hiders to keep them legal. They were known as "post-ban" and usually cost less than the "pre-ban" models. I remember hearing complaints about how prices doubled as soon as the AWB94 passed the House 25 years ago. Sales surged even with the higher prices.

In effect, bump stocks allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns.

Only in the most superficial way. Bump firing and shooting a machine gun are rather different. While a bump stock makes it easier to bump fire a semi-auto, it is not required. The bump fired rifle can't be held down on a rest or pulled into the shoulder with the supporting arm as can a machine gun. This makes it wildly inaccurate which is why such a small percentage of AR-15 owners bought them.

Federally licensed gun dealers are required to run background checks, but not all sellers are required to be licensed— laws vary from state to state. In this sense, there is a "loophole" that allows private sellers to sell firearms without conducting background checks.

It is more accurate to say that unlicensed sellers are prohibited from accessing NICS for a bkgd check. Historically, there were no bkgd checks or licensed dealers. As laws changed, dealers became the exception to the rules; in other words, if they wanted to deal, they had to follow more rules.

The individual was left alone for the most part as long as they did not sell to a known prohibited person. There really isn't an exception or loophole for unlicensed sellers as they were never intended to follow the rules for dealers.

I welcomed universal bkgd checks when there was a bill in Olympia, but what we got was rather draconian. For a while it was illegal to allow an adult friend to shoot your gun at a rifle range unless he got a bkgd check first, then the owner was required to get one before his friend handed it back. Children were exempt. The law has since changed.