Although this isn't the newest or most colorful sort of attack from the dark side, it has hit the press once again. Quite creatively worded, with incorrect information, and with all the rest of the trite we are getting so used to hearing.

Allow me to humor you with the opening line of the Plain Dealer article penned by Mr. John Caniglia. Are you ready ?

"It's easy to build an illegal machine gun. Or to get the recipe for exploding gelatin. Everything you need is available at hundreds of guns shows held across the country this time of year."

Let me begin by saying that the sale of guns, knives, ammunition, parts for guns, parts for ammunition is legal. Be it a one on one, or face to face sale or be it many people congregating in a single area to buy and sell the likes. Yes, dealers have to be federally licensed; but I do not if I wish to sell a gun that I own, to anyone I wish to sell it to, which makes the sale my personal responsibility.

"At the Niles show, a 20-something man browsed the aisles with his bored girlfriend. He looked at a table of a licensed dealer, who had to do a background check on the buyer before selling one of the 24 handguns he had. A few feet away at another table, three men displayed more than 30 weapons from their own collections, including an old, palm sized gun for $45.00-for sale, no questions asked."

"From 1990 to 2005, the number of licensed dealers in the United States dropped by 78%; and in Ohio, by 73%, according to the ATF…During the same 15 years, the number of gun shows annually grew to more than 5000 across the United States."

"The parts needed to turn a 9mm handgun into an illegal machine gun. The parts were scattered at several tables, but a knowledgeable buyer could collect what he needed." stated Gerald Nunziato a retired ATF agent. "A 50 caliber rifle with bullets that can pierce steel. Price $4000.00"

I fail to see the base line purpose of the article as a whole. Is the intent to shut down gun shows? Cars kill more people annually than guns, should we close the dealerships, or how about no more car shows ?

Did Mr. Nunziato witness any purchases from non-dealers?  Have any of our readers purchased a gun from a private owner at a gun show and not given them your entire life story. Name, address, etc. These people are taking responsibility for the sale of that gun and I think it happens with a little more control than the Plain Dealer writer knows of. If I sold a gun to the pope, I'll have his name, social security number and a receipt. Believe it. Most deer rifles can penetrate steel, so why would a criminal spend $4,000 on an expensive, heavy, cumbersome rifle (with its accompanying expensive ammunition)? And how many "knowledgeable" criminals are there who could successfully turn a 9mm handgun into an illegal handgun? About as many as can turn a few household chemicals from the local Wal-Mart into a bomb. The fact that automatic firearms are used in a fraction of a percent of crimes doesn't stop this reporter from telling his sensational tale.

On a closing note to Mr. Nunziato, you appear to be very knowledgeable, spotting the parts necessary to make a handgun fully automatic, were you a patron at the Niles show or were you there for the Plain Dealer?

Click here to read the original editorial.