Action News Jax sent five of our employees, several of whom are gun owners themselves, into the North Florida Gun and Knife Show to learn more about what's commonly known as the gun show loophole.
On several tables hung signs saying "private sellers," advertising cash only as a signal to buyers there were no background checks needed.
We found a private seller with about a dozen handguns and rifles displayed willing to sell a weapon for cash without checking identification.
Another gun seller appeared to have at least two tables worth of guns.
We went to the one listed as private where he told one employee that he “preferred to see (her) Florida ID” but that she “didn’t look like a typical protest.”
The same dealer told one reporter that as long as she was not “carrying an ISIS card,” he would sell her a gun for cash on the spot.
It is legal for private gun owners to sell without conducting a background check.
“Two individuals that come through the door and they want to buy sell or trade in the aisle or something, they can still do that. It's not against the law,” owner of North Florida Gun and Knife show Victor Bean said.
It is not legal if the seller is really in the business of selling guns but is pretending not to be. That's the loophole.
President Obama's recent executive order clarifies the existing law that says anyone in the business of selling and trading guns must have a firearms license and conduct background checks.
"They're selling to anybody that's got money,” Action News Jax Crime and Safety expert Ken Jefferson said. "It's amazing that they can do a background check on you by looking into your eyes or looking at the color of your skin or looking at what ethnicity is and say, ‘Yeah you look OK. I'll sell you a gun.”
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, there have been more than 2.6 million background checks for gun sales over the last three years in Florida.
Many of those gun owners exercise their right to bear arms at local gun shows.
Licensed gun owners conduct background checks there just as they would in their private stores.
"We have to observe the same rules here that we do at our store,” owner of the Outpost Ed Monk said.
"If we just enforce the laws that we have, it would cut both the crime in half right now, but we don't do that,” Bean said.
The ATF is in charge of enforcing firearms laws and the agency said it sends agents to gun shows to monitor sales.
Anyone caught doing business without being licensed is given a warning and can face a fine.
In anticipation of an increase in background checks, the FBI will hire 230 more examiners.