Unlicensed dealers provide a flow of weapons to those who shouldn't have them, CNN investigation fin

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

Unlicensed dealers provide a flow of weapons to those who shouldn't have them, CNN investigation finds

By Scott Glover, CNN Investigates. Additional reporting by Drew Griffin, Scott Bronstein, and Jose Pagliery
Updated 1239 GMT (2039 HKT) March 25, 2019

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Both men were referring to the Firearms Owners' Protection Act, a decades-old federal statute originally proposed by the National Rifle Association that dictates who is required to have a license to sell guns, and who is not.

The law's fuzziness on that distinction and its provision that defendants must willfully violate the law in order to face prosecution, has frustrated efforts by law enforcement to combat the problem of unlicensed gun dealing in America, a CNN investigation found.

Unlicensed dealers are a go-to source of firearms for criminals and others who can't pass the sort of background checks that licensed dealers are required to perform, according to a review of dozens of court cases and interviews with federal agents and prosecutors across the country.

Guns sold by unlicensed dealers often turn up in the hands of convicted felons, at crime scenes, and in police investigations, including cases of armed robbery and murder, CNN found. Some dealers continued their illegal sales even after receiving warnings from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/25/us/unlicensed-gun-dealers-law-invs/index.html