PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

November 21, 2005

The Newspaper Classifieds -

Marketplace for Illegal Gun Transfers

Classified ads for guns in newspapers provide opportunities for prohibited firearms purchasers to buy guns without a criminal background check

Cedar Rapids, IA – The newspaper industry is operating a marketplace for illegal gun transfers according to a report released today by The Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole.

Unlike licensed firearms dealers, private individuals who sell guns through classified ads in newspapers are not required to conduct criminal background checks on their buyers or keep records of their transactions.

Thus, the classifieds provide opportunities for felons, domestic abusers, minors and other persons who are prohibited by law from possessing firearms to evade a background check and unlawfully buy guns, according to the report. The classifieds also provide a venue for gun traffickers to illegally “engage in the business” of dealing in firearms without a license to do so.

Several anecdotes in which a prohibited purchaser bought a gun through a classified ad in a newspaper and then committed a crime with the gun, including murder, are provided in the report.

Researchers estimate that about 40 percent of all gun transfers, an estimated 5.5 million transactions a year, occur on unregulated secondary markets not subject to background checks, such as gun shows, estate sales, firearms sales over the Internet, and firearms sales through classified ads in newspapers.

According to government studies, approximately 90 percent of guns used in crimes are obtained from secondary markets. Only 10 percent of crime guns can be traced to the original purchaser from a licensed firearms dealer with a background check.

Newspaper Survey

Between April-November 2005 the Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole conducted a survey of daily newspapers published in the United States to determine each newspaper’s policy regarding classified advertising of firearms. The survey included most daily newspapers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey did not include weekly’s, community newspapers, and foreign language newspapers.

Of 1,449 daily newspapers surveyed, 1,030 newspapers (71%) responded that the newspaper accepts classified ads for all guns – rifles, shotguns, and handguns – from unlicensed sellers, while 274 newspapers (19%) responded that the newspaper does not take classified ads for guns from unlicensed sellers. The other 145 newspapers (10%) accept classified ads for rifles and shotguns from unlicensed sellers, but not handguns.

Based on the study, newspaper classifieds represent a sizable unregulated secondary gun market. Survey results for each state are provided in the report, including a list of newspapers that do not take firearms advertisements from unlicensed sellers.  

Said John Johnson, executive director of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence and coordinator for the Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole, “There is a demand for guns by persons who cannot buy them from licensed firearms dealers because they are either too young or have a criminal record and cannot pass the mandatory criminal background check required on all dealer sales. Thus, it is difficult to defend a newspaper’s role in the private sale of firearms by unlicensed sellers without a background check. The potential risks to the general public (and the newspaper) from the unregulated sale of firearms through the classifieds far outweigh the benefits (revenues) generated by these ads.”

The Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole

The Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole is a project of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence. The campaign asks newspapers across the country to restrict firearms advertisements to licensed firearms dealers only, and to not take classified ads for guns from unlicensed sellers.

Since the campaign was launched, at least 69 newspapers with a combined circulation of 7.9 million have changed their firearms advertising policy after being contacted by the campaign. At least 53 newspapers have changed their policy in 2005 as a result of intensive state campaigns in just a few states. A list newspapers that have changed their policy is provided in the report and includes some of the nation’s largest newspapers: Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, and The Indianapolis Star.

“We commend the publishers of these newspapers for recognizing that the classifieds provide opportunities for prohibited purchasers to buy guns without a background check and have taken steps to prevent their newspaper from being used as a marketplace for illegal gun purchases,” said Johnson. “Although the classifieds represent only one segment of the unregulated secondary gun market, by changing its policy, a newspaper becomes part of the solution rather than part of the problem.”

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