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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: November 1, 2001 Newspaper Classified Ads Allow Prohibited Purchasers to Buy Firearms Without a Background CheckGun Violence Prevention Groups in Midwest Announce National Campaign to Close the Newspaper LoopholeChicago, IL – Gun violence prevention groups, including the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, released a survey of major newspapers across the U.S. that detailed newspapers that accept gun advertisements in the classified ads section. Two-thirds of the newspapers surveyed accept classified ads for guns and over a third accepted ads for handguns. The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence also surveyed Chicago and Illinois newspapers and found that Chicago’s two largest circulation newspapers do not accept gun ads. Outside of Chicago, however, the top eight newspapers by circulation accepted gun ads, and all but one accepted handgun ads in the classifieds.
The “newspaper loophole” allows individuals to sell guns from their ‘personal collection” without a federal license – and buyers to purchase a gun without a background check being conducted in the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System). The loophole falls into the unregulated category of secondary firearm sales, such as the “gun show loophole” in which secondary gun transactions are not regulated. Because a “personal or private collection” is not clearly defined legally, law enforcement officials confront obstacles in prosecuting offenders.
“In most states, buying a gun from the classifieds means that if you’ve got the cash, no questions asked,” said john Johnson of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence who is spearheading the national campaign to close the newspaper loophole. “Whether you’re buying or selling a gun from a classified ad in the newspaper, or a gun show, or from someone’s ‘kitchen table’, there is no way to determine whether that secondary gun transaction is legal.”
“We are not pushing legislation; we are simply asking newspapers to review and reconsider their policy if they accept gun ads in the classified section,” said Thom Mannard, Executive Director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. “Newspapers have an opportunity to make a significant impact in curbing unregulated secondary gun sales simply by not accepting gun ads in their papers. Newspapers can help us close the newspaper loophole by showing a sense of civic responsibility.”
A significant number of newspapers have editorialized about closing the gun show loophole, but still allow gun ads in their classifieds section. The Houston Chronicle, Denver Post, and Des Moines Register have all editorialized about closing the gun show loophole but still allow gun advertisements in their classified ad sections.
“We believe that some newspapers are simply not aware of the inconsistency in policy between the editorial section of the newspaper and the classified advertising section,” said Ben Haley of the Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence.
The 16 state gun violence prevention groups announcing the campaign will work with newspapers in their states and contact newspapers and urge them to consider changing their classified advertising policy in the interest of public safety.
The campaign has already demonstrated success; both the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribune have changed their classified advertising policy to no longer accept any gun ads.
The newspaper loophole poses a threat to public safety, exemplified by the shooting spree of white supremacist in Illinois, Benjamin Smith, who obtained two handguns from gun ads in the classified section of a local newspaper. In June of 1999, Smith attempted to purchase several guns from a federally licensed gun dealer in Peoria Heights, Illinois. A background check denied Smith his purchase since he was under a court restraining order obtained by an ex-girlfriend.
Smith found a way around a background check and purchased two handguns he found in gun ads in a local newspaper placed by a man reselling guns through the secondary market. Donald Fiessinger sold 65 cheap handguns he purchased from a gun store and resold them by placing ads in a local newspaper over a two-year period from 1997-1999. Fiessinger sold a Ruger .22 caliber handgun and a Bryco .38 caliber handgun to Smith on June 26, 1999.
Over the July 4th weekend, Smith went on a killing spree in Illinois and Indiana that targeted Blacks, Jews, and Asians. Smith killed two individuals, former Northwestern University basketball coach, Ricky Byrdsong, and Won-Joon Yoon, a South Korean doctoral student at Indiana University. He wounded nine others. Byrdsong was shot while walking through his neighborhood in Skokie, Illinois, with his children. The spree ended when Smith committed suicide following a police chase in southern Illinois.
“It is absolutely imperative that we close the newspaper loophole and continue to work on eventually closing all of our nation’s lax gun laws to stop unregulated secondary gun sales,” said John Johnson of IPGV. “Our newspapers can help us accomplish that faster than any legislation could. We hope that they do the right thing, even though it will mean some loss in revenue for them.”
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