COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Joe Biden’s latest attempt at combatting gun violence is moving forward. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Biden administration is expanding background check requirements on firearm sales 

  • The new rule finalized this week requires firearms retailers to be federally licensed and perform background checks on buyers

  • The requirement will affect all dealers who predominantly profit from firearm sales, regardless of whether the transaction occurs online, at a gun show or in a retail space

The Biden administration is expanding background check requirements on firearm sales in an effort to make it more difficult for people prohibited from owning guns to get their hands on the weapons.

The new rule finalized this week requires firearms retailers to be federally licensed and perform background checks on buyers to ensure they can legally purchase and own a gun. This affects all dealers who predominantly profit from firearm sales, regardless of whether the transaction occurs online, at a gun show or in a retail space.

The announcement comes less than a week after new data released by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shows that in a five-year span, more than 68,000 illegally trafficked firearms came through unlicensed dealers who were not required to perform background checks.

Nick Suplina, senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, said the rule is a common sense gun regulation that should be applauded.

“There are some gun sellers out there not trying to break the law, but who under the old regime were selling guns without being licensed,” he said. “And in doing so, they had a sign practically posted on their chest that says, ‘Buy a gun from me if you can’t pass a background check, because I’m not going to perform one.’ What this rule does is really bring them into the system.”

He said he hopes legislators in Washington, D.C., take the regulation even further.

“Congress can take national action to, you know, securely store firearms to require firearms be securely stored,” Suplina said. “And it can take away the gun industry’s blanket, broad-based immunity that allows that industry to really operate irresponsibly and in ways that are negatively impacting gun safety overall.”

Buckeye Firearms Executive Director Dean Rieck sent Spectrum News a statement:

“This new rule to implement background checks on personal sales of firearms will not reduce crime. Criminals overwhelmingly obtain firearms through black market channels specifically to avoid background checks. They will not suddenly agree to go through background checks because of this new rule. And the dealers who are knowingly selling to criminals will not suddenly agree to run background checks. This expansion of background checks will primarily affect hobbyists, collectors, and law-abiding citizens, not violent criminals.”

“What the administration should be doing is pressuring prosecutors in America’s most violent cities to stop releasing violent criminals and start punishing them to the fullest extent of the law to get them off the street. The Biden administration should declare a war on crime, not a war on guns.”

The regulation could go into effect as early as next month, but is expected to face legal challenges by gun rights activists.