DeLAND, Fla. – A change is coming to private gun sales in Volusia County. The county council voted Tuesday night to repeal a rule that requires a background check and a three-day waiting period for private sales at gun shows.
Back in the late 1990s, Florida ruled to leave any regulations of these types of sales up to counties if the sales were done on county property. However, a new federal rule could change that.
The changed ordinance in Volusia County goes into effect immediately. Licensed dealers would still have to follow the state law, so it would affect private citizens who sell their guns at gun shows.
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“In terms of the repeal, it’s one of those things that comes down to value and as people know and it’s no secret, I’m a gun guy, and anything in this area I’m going to say ‘Hey, give this power to the people’,” said Danny Robins, a Volusia County Council Member.
Robins proposed the change.
Some locals, though, like Dana McCool, a Deltona commissioner, believe the background check and three-day waiting period is necessary.
“My mom purchased a gun and used it to kill herself. It was a permanent solution to a temporary situation,” McCool said. “This is about helping protect a vulnerable population that might seek a gun for immediate gratification for not-so-great reasons.”
Currently, there are no state or federal laws about these specific sales, which some legislators have called a “loophole.”
Just last week, though, the Department of Justice filed to close this “loophole” across the U.S. making these background checks required.
That is expected to take 30 days to go into effect, which could potentially reverse the change in Volusia’s ordinance if it passes.
The rule, which was finalized last week, makes clear that anyone who sells firearms predominantly to earn a profit must be federally licensed and conduct background checks, regardless of whether they are selling on the internet, at a gun show or at a brick-and-mortar store, Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters.
“It’s honestly going to affect everybody but at least for the now people are going to have the ability to purchase firearms in those public spots,” Robins said.
Robins said he believes it’s still worth pushing for the change in Volusia, with several top republican lawmakers vowing to file a resolution to overturn the federal change.
“You’ll see all these other bans by these agencies and not by Congress, they’ll go by the wayside,” he said.
McCool, on the other hand, hopes it sticks.
“I hope that it sticks on a federal level because I think what we’re doing is we’re recognizing that things are not the same they were when our constitution was written,” she said.
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