Headline in the LAT: “Wine and online sales: It’s easier to buy a gun than merlot”.
First paragraph of the article:
In most states, ordering a gun online is perfectly legal. As is ordering pornography, cigarettes and ammunition. A bottle of merlot, though, could land you in jail.
Okay. Let’s take a close look at that. Yes, in “most states”, you can order a gun online. Unless you, yourself, have a Federal Firearms License, the gun has to be shipped from a registered dealer to another dealer who also has a FFL. (You can order from a private party; however, that person has to find an FFL near them to process the transaction.) Once the gun arrives at the dealer you’ve selected, you have to go in and fill out a Form 4473. For the benefit of my readers who have never purchased a gun, here’s what a Form 4473 looks like. The purchaser has to fill out everything in section A.
Once you’ve filled out the Form 4473, the dealer then still has to call in to the National Instant Check System (NICS) to determine if you’re allowed to go through with the purchase, denied, or delayed. (There are some exceptions to that; for example, because I have a Texas CHL permit, dealers are not required to make the NICS call, because I’ve already been vetted by the State of Texas. I still have to make arrangements with a FFL to receive the gun for me; the only thing my Texas CHL permit allows me to bypass is the NICS call.)
In addition, you’ll typically end up paying shipping on the gun you ordered. Dealers also don’t generally do these transfers for free. Depending on how good a negotiator you are, you may end up paying the seller’s transfer fee to their FFL (if the gun comes from a private party and not a dealer); for sure, you’ll end up paying a transfer fee to the dealer who receives the gun for you, has you fill out the 4473, and does the background check. $25-$30 is what these fees average in the Austin area.
As far as ordering pornography; who does that these days? As far as cigarettes, I think the author needs to do a bit more research on that particular subject. Here’s a hint: you may not go to jail, but you’re likely to end up being billed for taxes. And as I recall, New York and several other states were attempting to ban credit card companies from processing online cigarette orders, and trying to persuade the Postal Service and other carriers to ban cigarette shipments.
I don’t, as a matter of fact, disagree with the author’s general argument; online wine sales are excessively complicated, largely due to laws that were put in place to protect liquor wholesalers. However, neither his argument nor the credibility of the LAT are helped by misrepresenting facts.