The Online Gun Marketplace and the Dangerous Loophole in the National Instant Background Check System
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THE ONLINE GUN MARKETPLACE
AND THE DANGEROUS LOOPHOLE IN
THE NATIONAL INSTANT
BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM
ANN DANIELS*
I. INTRODUCTION
Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistol for $400.' Benedict Ladera, a
private gun seller and Seattle resident, posted a similar advertisement
on www.armslist.com (Armslist).2 Across the border in Canada, Deme-
try Smirnov visited the gun classifieds website, agreed to the disclaim-
er, and viewed Ladera's post.3 Smirnov contacted Ladera expressing his
interest over the advertised pistol and traveled to Seattle to complete
the transaction.4 After the exchange, Smirnov drove to Chicago, Illinois
where he met Jitka Vesely, a woman whom he had met online years
earlier.5 He shot and killed Vesely in a museum parking lot with the
gun he had purchased through Armslist.6 The administrator of Vesely's
estate and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence brought a
* J.D. Candidate, The John Marshall Law School, May 2015; Lead Production Ed-
itor, Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law; B.A., History, Miami University
Ohio, May 2012; B.A., Political Science, Miami University Ohio, May 2012.
1. Michael Luo, Seeking Gun or Selling One, Web is a Land of Few Rules, N.Y.
TIMES (Aug. 29, 2013, 10:52 AM), http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/seeking-gun-or-
selling-one-web-is-a-land-of-few-rules.html?pagewanted=all&r-1&.
2. See Vesely v. Armslist, LLC, No. 13 CV 00607 (N.D. Ill. July 29, 2013) (order
granting Defendant's Motion to Dismiss).
3. Id.
4. Luo, supra note 1.
5. Defendant Armslist, LLC's Memorandum of Law in Support of its Rule 12(B)(6)
Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint at 2, Vesely v. Armslist, LLC, No. 13 CV 00607
(N.D. Ill. 2013) [hereinafter Defendant Armslist's Memorandum].
6. Jacob Gershman, Judge Dismisses Suit against Online Gun Marketplace, WALL
ST. J. (Aug. 29, 2013, 10:00 AM), http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/08/02/judge-dismisses-suit-
against-online-gun-marketplace/Law.
757](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jmjcila30&div=35&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Online Gun Marketplace and the Dangerous Loophole in the National Instant Background Check System
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