Known as the "gun show loophole," most states do not require background checks for firearms purchased at gun shows from private individuals -- federal law only requires licensed dealers to conduct checks.
Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, federal law clearly defined private sellers as anyone who sold no more than four firearms per year. But the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act lifted that restriction and loosely defined private sellers as people who do not rely on gun sales as the principal way of obtaining their livelihood.
“Today, private parties sometimes sell large numbers of new and used firearms while claiming hobbyist status and exemption from the requirements imposed on licensed retailers,” according to Inside Gun Shows: What Goes on When Everybody Thinks Nobody’s Watching, a 2009 report from the Violence Prevention Research Program at University of California Davis.
Some states have opted to go further than federal law by requiring background checks at gun shows for any gun transaction, federal license or not. Five states, most recently Colorado and Connecticut, mandate universal background checks, an even more stringent standard that imposes background checks on almost all gun purchases, including over the Internet.
Even in states that do not require background checks of private vendors, the venue hosting the event may require it as a matter of policy. In other cases, private vendors may opt to have a third-party licensed dealer run a background check even though it may not be required by law.
View variations in policies from state-to-state in the following map:
Source: Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Please zoom out to view Alaska and Hawaii
Laws for Background Checks at Gun Shows
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Not required |
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Required for handgun sales |
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Required for all purchases |
View our separate interactive chart showing firearm background check data by state
Related Content
- 10 New State Laws That Loosen Gun Restrictions
- While some states have tightened gun restrictions since last year's mass shootings, many in the South and Midwest have passed new laws being celebrated by the National Rifle Association.
- California Increases Funding to Seize Illegally Held Guns
- Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation providing $24 million to clear the backlog of weapons known to be in the hands of people who purchased them legally but were then disqualified from owning one. The funds will be used to hire 36 additional special agents.
- New Jersey Adds 420,000 Names to Federal Gun Database
- The names of hundreds of thousands of current and former New Jersey residents who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities have been added to an FBI database used to bar firearms purchases by people with criminal records or a history of mental illness.
- Cities Rethink Gun Buyback Programs
- The programs were found to be ineffective in reducing violent crime, but cities are revisiting -- and in some cases, revamping -- them in the wake of last year's mass shootings.
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