Gun Show Sales to Be Monitored by Sheriff's Office This Weekend

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office plans to monitor sales at a Largo gun show this weekend to ensure that mandated background checks are conducted.

The enforcement results from a series of articles by the Tampa Bay Times  that looked at how Pinellas and other counties with mandates in place do not routinely ensure the background checks are carried out.

Do you think that background checks should be conducted at private gun shows like the one this weekend in Largo? Let us know in the comments below.

Admission is $9 to the Two Guys Gun Show to be held Saturday and Sunday at the Minnreg Building, 6340 126th Ave., Largo. According to an announcement for the show, it will feature "nearly 300 available tables of guns, knives, and accessories."

Gun dealer Guy Lemakos of St. Petersburg, who is organizing the show, told Tampa Bay Times that he will conduct the background checks himself.

The county law mandates that private gun sellers at shows where the public has access do background checks on buyers. They must rely on licensed gun dealers, like Lemakos, who has access to a database of criminal and mental health records, to assist in the checks.

The checks are the same ones that retail stores must conduct when selling guns.

The law stems from a 1998 constitutional amendment passed by Florida voters allowing counties to require background checks at private gun sales that the public can attend.

For the more coverage
Florida Gun Sales: Are Tougher Laws Needed? (Patch article)

Gun Show Background Law to Be Enforced, Sheriff Says (Tampa Bay Times)

Gun-show loophole laws on the books in Florida, but ignored (Tampa Bay Times)

Florida Gun show calendar of eventsr

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