Did you know that Americans in 46 states can buy bullets either online or at a store with “no questions asked”?
That’s the chief concern raised in an article published Thursday on CNN’s website.
“Under federal and many state laws, the same people prohibited from buying guns are prohibited from buying bullets. But virtually no systems are in place to enforce that. In 46 states, anyone can walk into a store — or click on a website — and buy bullets,” read the article, which was originally published by the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news site that covers criminal justice topics.
“A small group of gun-control advocates have, for years, been making the case that bullets are as good, if not better, a target for regulation than guns,” the article continued. “Without bullets, they point out, a gun is a useless piece of metal. And unlike guns, bullets must continually be replaced.”
The story as it appeared Thursday on CNN’s website went on to state incorrectly that legislation aimed at curbing ammunition sales, “is a fledgling idea in a landscape where 37 states don’t require background checks to purchase a handgun — let alone a box of ammo.”
The part about background checks is incorrect.
Federal law requires that licensed firearm dealers perform background checks on all sales. This includes sales to all customers, and the law applies to every state.
However, the original version of the Marshall Project article included a footnote explaining that, “A federal background check is required for all gun sales except those by ‘private sellers’ (this exception has led to the much-debated gun show loophole). Federal law excludes a very limited group of people from buying guns; the 13 states with their own background check systems use the federal check as a floor and apply their own, more strict, criteria in a state-specific check.”
This necessary explanation is missing from CNN’s website.
The CNN version of the article, and its worries about the availability of ammunition in the United States, comes shortly after multiple newsrooms reported incorrectly this week that Americans have been legally evading background checks by purchasing firearms at gun shows and online.
False claims that the Internet and gun shows are being used as a legal means to avoid background checks come as President Obama and the White House gear up to take executive action on gun control.
