Rep. Magaziner reintroduces ‘Prevent Illegal Gun Sales Act’

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — Congressman Seth Magaziner joined local leaders and law enforcement on Monday to reintroduce a bill aimed at preventing the sale of guns under the table.

The “Prevent Illegal Gun Sales Act,” which has a Senate version introduced by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, would prevent gun dealers from selling guns off the books.

According to Magaziner, roughly 90% of guns recovered from crime scenes trace back to 5% of dealers.

“All it takes is a relatively small number of dealers to not do the right thing, to sell guns under the table illegally, to fail to perform background checks, to falsify records, to purposely sell firearms to people who aren’t supposed to have them,” Magaziner said. “A relatively small number of bad dealers who don’t follow the law can do a tremendous amount of damage.”

On Monday, the U.S Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Rhode Island’s ban on high-capacity magazines, meaning a lower court ruling allowing the state law will remain in place.