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The contention is that people who cannot legally buy a firearm seek out gun shows to purchase their firearms. They look for the guy who won't ask/won't tell or the guy who only wants the cash when they meet in the parking lot. They go from table to table and when/if the seller asks for an ID they claim they left it in the car and will be right back. They then move to another table. This is the 'gun show loophole" where they claim the "40%" of the illegal transfers occur.
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Except it's not 40%. That number came from a tortured reading of a
1997 NIJ survey [pdf], in which 2,568 households were surveyed, but only 251 respondents answered the question about the origin of their gun.
Congresswoman DeGette was claiming in 200 that the figure was 70%, but wouldn't give data at all.
A more realistic and (somewhat) verifiable number? 0.7%. That's directly from a
Department of Justice study [pdf].
So, are criminals buying their guns at gun shows? Yeah, a few. Is it enough to be considered a serious problem? No.