Federal investigators late last year attempted to illegally purchase firearms online after congressional members asked them to assess how well the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was doing with the enforcement of existing laws.
The findings were stunning.
Investigators with the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) were dispatched to see whether private online sellers were engaging in selling firearms to people who are prohibited from owning firearms. The investigators attempted dozens of times to illegally purchase firearms from online sellers on the “surface web” (i.e. not the dark web), but were completely unsuccessful — going 0 for 72.