Unprecedented investigation finds rampant illegal sales

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly released the results of the first nationwide investigation into online gun sales on Wednesday, Dec. 14, finding that of 125 people selling guns in 14 states, 62 percent agreed to sell without a background check.

Craigslist was the worst. Though the website has a policy of prohibiting gun sales that don't follow the proper procedure, investigators found: "Not only was that policy ignored, 82 percent of the people contacted agreed to illegally sell," reported Bloomberg.

Ebay, on the other hand, had stringent policies that prevented underhanded deals.

Bloomberg and Mayors Against Illegal Guns call on Congress to codify three regulations they say will prevent illegal gun sales online: sellers and buyers must both provide identification to website administrators; users should be able to flag violations; and administrators should conduct internal audits.

Many websites people use to sell guns already have these regulations in place, noted Bloomberg.

If a gun seller has reason to believe that a buyer could not pass a background check, it is a felony to sell a gun to that person. The mayor played some recorded conversations between online sellers and undercover investigators posing as buyers.

"Okay, so no background checks or anything like that?" an investigator asked a seller who advertised on Gunlistings.org.

"No, I'm just a private person," replied the seller.

"Oh, that's good, 'cause I probably couldn't pass one," said the investigator.

"Yeah, I probably couldn't pass one either," said the seller, and laughed heartily.

Bloomberg's Chief Policy Advisor, John Feinblatt, compared this investigation to the groundbreaking investigation that uncovered rampant illegal gun sales at gun shows in 2009. After the investigation, operators at four of the seven gun shows investigated mended their ways and began monitoring sales more stringently.

"Perhaps it's even more potentially lethal, because these websites are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they're completely anonymous," said Feinblatt.

Commissioner Kelly recalled the assassination of John F. Kennedy. According to government investigations, Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy with a gun that had been sent in the mail. This led to the gun control law of 1968, which banned the sale of guns via mail.

In New York, 85 percent of the guns come from out of state. That is why New York City paid $290,000 to hire private investigators in other states to conduct this investigation.

"I-95 is a very effective way of getting guns into the city," said Kelly. "We don't need an electronic highway to make it easier."