PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

June 8, 2005

Daily Newspapers in Iowa, Ohio and Nebraska No Longer Accept Classified Ads for Guns, as Momentum Builds to "Close Newspaper Loophole"

Cedar Rapids, IA – The Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole announced today that at least three Iowa newspapers have recently implemented policies to restrict firearms advertisements to licensed firearms dealers only. Newspapers that have changed their policies include The Hawk Eye (Burlington), the Daily Iowegian (Centerville), and the Daily Sentinel (Le Mars).

These newspapers join the Telegraph Herald (Dubuque), Clinton Herald, Daily Register (Oelwein), Cedar Valley Daily Times (Vinton), and Daily Times Herald (Carroll) in bringing to eight the number of Iowa newspapers that do not accept firearms advertisements from unlicensed sellers.

The Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole is a project of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence. The campaign asks newspapers 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 in November 2001, at least 26 newspapers across the country with a combined circulation of 5.8 million have changed their firearms advertising policies.

In April, Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence, which represents the campaign in Iowa, mailed a letter to the publisher of all daily newspapers in Iowa asking the newspaper to review its firearms advertising policy. The three Iowa newspapers that changed their policy bring to eight the number of newspapers that have changed their firearms advertising policy in 2005. In addition, four Ohio newspapers have closed the newspaper loophole including The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Cincinnati Post, The Delphos Herald, and The Ironton Tribune.  The Nebraska City News Press also recently changed it's policy on gun ads. 

Said John Johnson, coordinator of the Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole, “We recognize that guns are legal products in the United States. But not all firearms transfers are legal. That’s were newspapers come into play.”

He added, “There is a demand for guns by people who can’t buy them from licensed firearms dealers because they are either too young or have a criminal record and can’t pass the mandatory criminal background check required on all dealer sales. We are pleased that the publishers of these newspapers recognize 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.”

Leah Woodward, communications director of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence said, “It is difficult to defend a newspaper’s role in the private sale of firearms without a criminal background check. We commend the newspapers that have changed their policy and encourage other Iowa newspapers to join the growing list of newspapers in Iowa and across the country that have closed the newspaper loophole. We consider that this makes good policy for not only for the general public, but also for the newspaper.”

Under federal law (the Brady Law), federally licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers and maintain records of their transactions. However, unlicensed sellers who sell firearms from a “personal collection” are not required to conduct background checks or keep records. Sources of non-dealer sales include gun shows, flea markets, estate sales and garage sales, firearms sales over the Internet, and firearms sales through classified ads in newspapers.

Researchers estimate that about 40 percent of all firearms transfers (approximately 5.5 million transactions a year) occur on secondary markets not subject to Brady background checks. A 2000 government study found that about 90 percent of guns used in crimes changed hands at least once on the secondary market before being used in a crime.

Said Johnson, “We recognize that the classifieds represent only one part of the unregulated secondary gun market. But by changing its policy, a newspaper becomes part of the solution rather than part of the problem.”

Regarding the campaign’s recent successes, Johnson noted, “Closing the newspaper loophole is relatively easy because it doesn’t take an Act of Congress. All it takes is a management decision.”

According to Johnson, the Ohio, Iowa, and Nebraska campaigns are just the beginning of a 50-state national campaign. Over the next 12 months, the campaign plans to contact daily newspapers in all fifty states (an estimated 2,000 daily newspapers). Based on the results of the ongoing newspaper campaigns in Ohio, Iowa, and Nebraska, the campaign expects to get between 100 and 200 newspapers to adopt policies that restrict firearms advertisements to licensed firearms dealers only.

“At the very least, we expect to generate some ‘spirited discussion’ among newspapers publishers,” said Johnson. “We want newspaper publishers to discuss among themselves their responsibilities when it comes to running a marketplace for selling firearms.”  

Newspapers That Have Closed the Newspaper Loophole

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