The sale of firearms on the internet and at gun shows in the US will in future be subject to mandatory background checks, the justice department said on Thursday as it announced a “historic” new action to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals.
The closing of the so-called gun show loophole, which exempts private transactions from restrictions that apply to licensed dealers, has long been a goal of the Biden administration, and is specifically targeted in the rule published in the federal register today.
“Under this regulation, it will not matter if guns are sold on the internet, at a gun show, or at a brick-and-mortar store: if you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit, you must be licensed, and you must conduct background checks,” the attorney general, Merrick Garland, told reporters on a press call announcing the measure.
“This regulation is a historic step in the justice department’s fight against gun violence. It will save lives.”
The rule, which clarifies who is considered to be “engaged in the business” as a firearms dealer, will take effect in 30 days’ time, and follows a three-month consultation period that attracted almost 388,000 comments to the website of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The White House estimates that 22% of guns owned by Americans were acquired without a background check and that about 23,000 more individuals will be required to be licensed as a dealer after the rule’s implementation.
“There is a large and growing black market of guns being sold by people in the business of dealing and doing it without a license, and therefore they are not running background checks the way the law requires,” the ATF director, Steven Dettelbach, said.
“It’s not safe for innocent, law-abiding Americans. In fact, it’s doggone dangerous.”
Garland presented the rule as a hardening of the 2022 bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which said all persons “who devote time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to predominantly earn a profit” would be considered a dealer.
“The regulation expands the definition of who must obtain a license and conduct a background check before selling guns,” Garland said.
“It will close the gun show loophole, and it closes the fire-sale loophole by clarifying how firearms dealers who go out of business must go about liquidating their inventory.”
Intra-family transfers of firearms, or occasional sales to enhance a collection, will not be presumed business transactions, a White House spokesperson said.
The new rule is the latest in a series of unilateral steps the Biden administration has taken to tighten gun laws, while at the same time highlighting the difficulty of getting legislation through Congress.
Republicans were lukewarm to near-identical proposals by Barack Obama in 2016, towards the end of his second term, while Biden was vice-president; and, with a current House majority, have been resistant to calls for meaningful gun control measures since.
Last month, Kamala Harris, the vice-president, visited Parkland, Florida, the site of a 2018 high school shooting that claimed 17 lives, to announce the setting up of a national resource center to assist states in implementing red flag laws.
In September, Biden tapped Harris to lead the first federal gun violence prevention office, and the pair have repeatedly urged Congress to pass tougher regulations, including a ban on private ownership of assault weapons.
“For decades, many dealers who sell weapons someplace other than the traditional gun store, say a gun show or flea market, or through social media, have gotten away without conducting background checks,” she told reporters on the call.
“Every year, thousands of unlicensed dealers sell tens of thousands of guns without a single background check to buyers who, if they had been required to pass a background check, would have failed, for example, domestic abusers, violent felons and even children.
“This single gap in our federal background check system has caused unimaginable pain and suffering. I believe countless families and communities will be spared the horror and heartbreak of gun violence by this new rule.”
Gun control advocacy groups welcomed the rule.
Gabby Giffords, the former US congresswoman who founded the Giffords center to prevent gun violence after she was seriously injured in a 2011 shooting, said: “President Biden stood strong and saved lives today. His administration took bold action to address a gaping loophole that allowed firearm dealers to sell guns without performing background checks and let anyone intent on doing harm to buy a gun, no questions asked.
“This new rule will make sure fewer people slip through the cracks, and we’re all safer for it.”
Mark Barden, who co-founded Sandy Hook Promise after his seven-year-old son Daniel was among the 26 victims of a 2012 elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, said: “While today’s victory can never take away the pain of having my youngest son taken from our family, it represents the power of our collective voices when we come together to keep kids safe.
“We are energized to keep up the fight and will work day in and day out to ensure that this isn’t the last action we see on expanding background checks.”
The group promoted background check legislation in both chambers of Congress last year and is pressing for a vote, citing studies that show overwhelming public support for such a measure.
“We sincerely thank the more than 11,000 supporters, including teachers, parents, students, gun violence survivors and other concerned community members, who spoke out in support of this critical rule,” said Nicole Hockley, chief executive of Sandy Hook Promise, and mother of Dylan, six, another Newtown victim.
“Their support has been a fountain of hope and we share this victory with them.”
• This article was amended on 11 April 2024. A previous version quoted a White House spokesperson as saying that “inter-family transfers of firearms … will not be presumed business transactions”. This reference should have been to intra-family transfers, and has been corrected.
