As part of a comprehensive package of proposals, Vice President Joseph Biden is recommending a law that could define gun trafficking as a federal crime, two sources close to the vice president's gun policy task force process told The Huffington Post. Two other sources close to the task force said Biden's team reacted favorably during earlier discussions to including a gun trafficking recommendation. The White House declined to discuss the matter. The language of the proposed law isn't known. Nor is it clear if the administration will suggest a statute itself, or let Congress fill in the blanks. Gun control advocates said they were heartened by the prospects of a federal trafficking law, having warned for years that the absence of such a statue aids the illegal flow of firearms. "I'd be thrilled," said Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy of the centrist think tank Third Way and a former official at Americans for Gun Safety. Currently, to convict someone of illegal gun distribution, law enforcement officials must prove that a person who transferred a weapon to a felon knew or had reasonable cause to believe that that person was indeed a felon. Phrased specifically, a federal law may make it illegal for sellers to transfer a firearm to someone with a record that prohibits them from owning one. It would, in effect, give a legal incentive (in the form of criminal punishment) for private sellers to conduct thorough background checks before making their sales. Such a policy could also create a disincentive for straw purchasers: those people with clean records who buy firearms to transfer to those prohibited from owning one. Read more http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/14/biden-gun-policy_n_2475744.html
