I am writing to point out some misconceptions in Katie Goodrich's Jan. 14 Young Voices column.
The vast majority of firearms sellers at gun shows are federal firearms license dealers who require exactly the same Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives paperwork and FBI background check as sales at a gun shop. Both federal and Indiana state law limit the private sale of personal firearms only to qualified residents of the same state.
Private ownership of fully automatic firearms (defined by BATFE as "machine guns") has been strictly regulated since 1934 by the National Firearms Act.
The prohibition of so-called "assault weapons" proposed by President Barack Obama applies only to semiautomatic firearms (one shot for each trigger pull).
In my opinion, sufficient laws and regulations already exist and require only stricter enforcement rather than the enactment of new legislation further infringing the rights of law-abiding citizens.
- Robert M. Virus, Hammond
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