Revision 12: closing the deadly loophole in the firearms laws.

• Author: Rundle, Katherine Fernandez
• Position: Florida Constitution Revision Commission

Ballot Title: Firearms Purchases: Local Option For Criminal History Records Check and Waiting Period

Ballot Summary: Authorizes each county the option of requiring a criminal history records check and waiting period of 3 to 5 days in connection with the "sale" of any firearm; defines "sale" as the transfer of money or other valuable consideration for a firearm where any part of the transaction occurs on property open to public access; does not apply to holders of a concealed weapons permit when purchasing a firearm.

The proposed amendment will allow Florida counties to close a loophole in our firearms laws through which convicted felons like Hank Earl Carr, who recently killed a four-year-old child and three police officers in Tampa, are freely able to purchase firearms. Because of this loophole, gun shows, where firearms are routinely sold without a criminal history records check, are thriving in Florida. Indeed, the problem has become so widespread that many characterize gun shows as "tupperware parties" and our beautiful state as the "gunshine state."

Criminal History Records Check Loophole in Current Firearms Laws

Under F.S. [sections] 790.065 (1997), licensed firearm dealers generally may not sell or deliver from their inventory at their premises any firearm to another person unless and until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has approved the sale or delivery.(1) The department will not give approval unless and until it has been provided with the potential buyer's or transferee's pertinent identifying information, and reviewed criminal history records to determine if the potential buyer or transferee may legally possess a firearm. A criminal history records check prevents convicted felons and other individuals who may not legally possess a firearm from purchasing one. In 1997, Florida's requirement that licensed firearm dealers conduct such a check resulted in the denial of 7,348 requests to purchase a firearm. There is, however, a loophole under Florida law because there is no requirement for a criminal history records check before a firearm is sold or delivered by a nonlicensed seller.

Federal law does not close this loophole. Federal limitations on the sale of firearms apply to licensed dealers, which includes "any person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail." 18 U.S.C. [sections] 921(11). The term "engaged in the business" as applied to a dealer in firearms means "a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the repetitive...