The Business of Guns

Gun Shows

The United States has an average of about 15 gun shows per day, each of which attracts countless thousands of Americans to buy, trade, and sell firearms. What’s more, there are far more public markets and swap meets across the country where guns and ammunition change hands as readily as video games or furniture. Gun shows are often decried by gun control politicians as the ultimate black market for guns, a place where both criminals and mass shooters have access to deadly weapons with a bare minimum of oversight—if indeed you can find any oversight at all. By contrast, they are just as often promoted by gun freedom politicians as proof that exceptions do not prove the rule, as the overwhelming majority of weapons purchased, sold, and exchanged at gun shows never end up associated with criminal activity or mass shootings.

The Politics of Gun Shows: “Two Sets of Rules”

Throughout most of American history, gun shows (and other swap meets) escaped public attention during the gun-control

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