Hello again. I hope your week is going well. Can it be that June is half over? Where does the time go?

This week, I wanted to talk to you about a policy we implemented a while back involving our classified ads. I received a letter from Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence, a group coordinating a national effort to close what is referred to as the "newspaper loophole," where firearms are bought and sold between private parties in the classifieds. If you or I want to buy a firearm, we go to a licensed gun dealer, pay our money and fill out all the paperwork to have a background check done, then wait for our gun. This is a federal law, commonly referred to as the "Brady" law. James Brady was press secretary to Pres. Ronald Reagan and was injured in an assassination attempt on Reagan. He and his wife worked for a change in firearm laws and succeeded in getting the measure passed.

As is the case with most things in life, there are ways to get around the law. One of the ways has been to purchase a gun from a private party through the classified ads. Sounds harmless, two adults making a transaction for private property. What could be wrong with that?

It turns out there can be a great deal wrong with just such a transaction. Sales of firearms by unlicensed sellers through classified ads is unregulated, and felons, domestic abusers, minors, and other persons who are prohibited by law from possessing firearms can buy guns without a criminal background check.

Under federal law (the Brady Law), federally licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers and maintain records of their transactions. However, unlicensed sellers who sell firearms from a "personal collection" are not required to conduct background checks or keep records. Sources of non-dealer sales include gun shows, flea markets, estate sales and garage sales, firearms sales over the Internet, and firearms sales through classified ads in newspapers.

That's the "newspaper loophole."

Researchers estimate that about 40 percent of all firearms transfers (approximately 5.5 million transactions a year) occur on secondary markets not subject to Brady background checks. A 2000 government study found that about 90 percent of guns used in crimes changed hands at least once on the secondary market before being used in a crime.

When we received the letter, I asked Monte Jost, my Advertising Manager, what our policy was on accepting advertising for guns. He told me that we require that anyone seeking to sell a firearm using our newspaper be a licensed gun dealer. This includes auctioneers, who understand that being a licensed gun dealer is another of the services they can provide to customers.

Closing the "newspaper loophole" at the Sentinel made sense to me, so I did it. We will only accept ads for firearms from licensed gun dealers.

Did we get a lot of classified ads for firearms before we changed the policy? No. In the seven years I have been here, it has only come up a handful of times.

Will we accept ads from licensed dealers? You betcha, all they want to spend.

Are there other newspapers that have changed their policy? Yes. The Sentinel was joined by The Burlington Hawk Eye and the Daily Iowegian in Centerville. Other newspapers in Iowa that won't accept firearms advertisements from unlicensed sellers include: the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Clinton Herald, Oelwein Daily Register, Cedar Valley Vinton Daily Times, and the Carroll Daily Times Herald.

Nationally, at least 26 newspapers across the country with a combined circulation of 5.8 million have changed their firearms advertising policies. Among the papers making the change are: Chicago Tribune, Indianapolis Star, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Miami Herald, The Cincinnati Post, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Nebraska City News Press, Nebraska, Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, Florida, Bradenton Herald, Florida, and the Kansas City Star.

Pretty good company.

Any organization that has success at what it's doing naturally wants people to know. Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence is no exception. When we changed our policy, a press release was sent to area media. I was contacted by KCAU-TV in Sioux City about being interviewed about the change, something that's known in our business as "localizing" a story. I chose not to comment on camera. I made this change because it was the right thing to do. I didn't make the change to get on television, and felt that I didn't need to defend doing the right thing. (Also, I really hate the way my voice sounds when it's recorded, and don't get me started on my hair!)

On a much lighter note, I received my first "bail check" for the upcoming MDA "Jail and Bail" event, scheduled for June 29 at the Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. I only need to raise $590 more, and I'm a free man!

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.