“What we’re trying to do is let Hara Arena know that we don’t appreciate 24 gun shows a year, said Donald Domineck, chairman of the Freedom Project, an outreach ministry of the Ethan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church. “Our kids have such easy access to guns.”
There is no evidence that either of the recent shootings had ties to any gun shows. But protesters said it is unfair to saturate poor communities like Dayton and Trotwood with gun shows that make it easy for people to buy guns and then sell them to underage people or those convicted of crimes.
As of Saturday afternoon, officials from the gun show have not been reached for comment.
But on the Goodman website, GunShow.net there was a statement on the matter.
It says a private individual who does not hold a federal firearms license is not required by state or federal law to conduct a FBI background check when selling a firearm to another private party, nor would that even be possible. The seller is only required, the website said, to not sell to someone known to be felons, illegal aliens or have mental problems.
“Accordingly, non-licensed, private parties may sell firearms at gun shows in accordance with state and federal law, as long as such sales otherwise fully comply with all provisions of federal and other applicable law,” the statement said.
Merphie Frazier knows the pain of gun violence. His son, Demetrius Frazier, was shot to death in 2009 during a robbery. Frazier was an engineering student at Sinclair Community College who was planning to transfer to the University of Dayton.
“We’re not against Second Amendment rights,” Frazier said. “We’re against illegal guns that get on to the streets. It’s OK now for (gun show visitors), until they lose a child.”
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