Gun dealers sell pistols 'without background check'
 

Undercover New York City investigators bought high-powered pistols from an Arizona gun fair without undergoing a background check, officials said.

One made the purchase despite telling the seller he was "probably" barred by law from gun ownership, a report said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office said the investigation exposed "a dangerous gap in our existing federal gun laws".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12328493


Note: 31 January 2011 Last updated at 20:57 GMT

Euhm, is thins not something we all knew it was like this? Or is it nobody wants to admit it?

You can buy ANYTHING on the streets of NYC without a background check, so what?

I'd feel safer in AZ with their gun laws than I would in NYC with theirs.

I think we all know why they picked AZ of all states, just another political ploy by the gun control group.

Are illegal gun sales on the streets of NY supposed to be legal?
So your "so what" is so irrelevant.

Its the fourth state they have done it in and they are so far running at a rate that 2/3 gun sellers at gun show will illegally sell weapons.

What is a "high-powered pistol"?

What is a "high powered engine"?

Back when I used to haunt gun shows, many of the guns I bought had no records at all. One time I bought a handgun and resold it at the same gun show for a profit and there were no records kept.

Closing some of the loopholes in selling/buying handguns at gun shows is a good thing in my opinion.

That would depend on the person.

To some anything bigger than a .22 might be considered high powered. To others anything above a .45 or the "magnums" would be considered high powered. I don't think there is any universal definition.

Would that be a high powered .22 or a low powered .22?
Like with engines the term relates to energy.

That's pretty much what i would have said,
there is no one definitive answer as to what constitutes high/low-powered weapon.
But, all of the following can and certainly do become a factor in attempting to determine what is what:

High velocity ("hydrostatic shock")
Shock
Bullet diameter
Bullet weight
Kinetic energy
Momentum
Relative Stopping Power, OGW, and killing power formulas
Bullet terminal performance
Bullet placement
Other (dwell time and other arcane theories).

A media term for when "pistol" alone doesn't sound scary enough...

Like the NRA doing articles about the reputation of low power of some .38s and some new .38s being high power?
Oh, not that media the other media:O:

I strongly believe in the 2nd Amendment but a gun license and background check should be required for anything concealable no matter where it is purchased. That is what the criminals want; that is what must be regulated.

It's not like it matters. A gun is a gun...it's still a dangerous weapon even if it's a .22. the Mob used .22 cal all the time for assassinations.

No, a gun can be a dangerous weapon. Big difference.