LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced a new rule to close the gap of unlicensed dealers selling guns, after a recent study that came out of the number of illegal guns that are being trafficked.
"Recently, ATF found that the flood of illegal guns into our communities is increasingly driven by individuals who sell guns without a license, and who do not conduct background checks, too often, these black-market guns wind up in the hands of people who are not allowed to have them," said Merrick Garland, United States Attorney General.
General Manager of Arkansas Armory, Nathan House, explained how background checks have always been required by licensed dealers and what this new rule does is expand the definition of who is actually considered a "dealer."
"It's unclear. It seems that it could be even a single gun and selling to someone else, if you were making a profit from it would be considered potentially in the business of selling guns and then require a license in order to do that," House described.
He said this new rule seems to lean towards getting more private sellers to be federally registered, but he doesn't think that's the solution.
"It's different whenever you're buying hundreds and hundreds of guns, and then turning around and selling them without going through the process and being licensed than it is if you simply happen to inherit four or five guns and then want to sell those. How do you know if you're even making a profit on it at that point," House said.
The United States Attorney General said the goal is clear to cut down on violent crime and save lives.
"Too often, these black-market guns are found at crime scenes and too often, these black-market guns are responsible for heartbreaking tragedies; Gun Violence has devastated families across the country for many, it has meant the loss of a parent, a child, a student, a fellow officer, or a friend and for their communities," Garland said.
According to House, gun owners have the same intentions of not putting guns in the wrong hands, but rather they're just focused on their 2nd amendment rights.
"I think most responsible gun owners don't want guns in the hands of people that are prohibited from owning guns but there always seems to be this attack on the private sale of firearms. Why won't the federal government allow a private citizen to run a background check on another private citizen if they are trying to sell a gun, but they don't want us to do that," House described.
The Biden administration finalized the rule this week and expects challenges in court by gun rights activists.