事实核查:在缅因州买一把AR-15比买苏达芬更容易吗?作者:PolitiFact记者
在缅因州刘易斯顿枪击案造成至少18人死亡后的几天里，主张加强枪支法律的人士谴责了该州相对宽松的枪支法律。
草根组织“妈妈要求行动”(Moms Demand Action)的创始人香农·沃茨(Shannon Watts)在10月25日的X网站上发表了这一观点。
沃茨比较了对购买一种流行的非处方感冒药的限制和嫌疑人使用的半自动武器的类型。
“在缅因州，买Sudafed比买AR-15还难，”沃茨用大写字母重复了五遍这句话。
Sudafed法和枪支法的比较并不是从Watts的帖子开始的;它已经在新闻报道和社交媒体上流传了至少五年。但它准确吗?
答案取决于购买枪支的背景。管理有联邦执照的枪支经销商销售的法律比管理无执照的枪支经销商在枪支展或其他私人交易上销售的法律更严格。
购买Sudafed的规定很严格，因为它的一种前体化学物质可用于制造危险药物甲基苯丙胺。2005年的联邦《打击甲基安非他命流行病法案》(Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act)对含有伪麻黄碱等成分的药物实施了新的规定，伪麻黄碱是苏达菲的原料。
缅因州对Sudafed销售的限制与这项联邦法律密切相关。零售商在24小时内向顾客销售的有效成分不得超过3.6克;这相当于大约三个普通包裹。30天内的销售上限为9克。
此外，顾客必须出示政府颁发的身份证件，零售商必须从中记下顾客的姓名和地址、购买的克数、购买的日期和时间、身份证号码和发卡机构。
虽然法律没有要求与其他政府机构共享这些信息，但据该交易所称，包括缅因州在内的38个州使用了一个名为“国家前体日志交换”的系统来共享这些数据，该系统追踪了全国80%的伪麻黄碱交易。
很明显，购买Sudafed比购买一包口香糖需要更多的保障措施。
但它是否比缅因州的购枪程序更严格呢?
这取决于购买的方式。
如果从联邦许可的经销商那里购买，无论是在实体店还是在枪支展览会上，交易将比购买Sudafed更复杂。
购买Sudafed和枪支都需要身份证。缅因州枪支购买者的信息将对执法部门开放，因为该州是国家先驱原木交易所的一部分。
如果一个人在同一时间或连续五个工作日内购买多支手枪，从联邦许可的经销商处购买枪支必须向联邦酒精、烟草、火器和爆炸物局和当地执法部门报告。
从有联邦执照的经销商那里购买枪支比购买Sudafed更容易:与Sudafed销售的时间限制不同，一次可以购买的枪支数量没有限制。
不过，行业组织国家射击运动基金会(National Shooting Sports Foundation)公共事务主管马克·奥利瓦(Mark Oliva)说，从其他方面来看，从有执照的经销商那里购买枪支比购买Sudafed要复杂得多。
It requires filling out Form 4473 from the ATF, in which prospective purchasers must attest that they are not prohibited from purchasing guns. Purchasers cannot buy a gun unless they are the intended recipient of the firearm, are not a convicted felon, a fugitive, dishonorably discharged from the U.S. military or are involuntarily committed to a mental health treatment. The completed forms must be kept permanently, including transferring them to the ATF if the seller goes out of business.
Also, the purchaser must pass a screening by the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. about 90% of these checks are instantly approved, and the rest are typically completed within three days.
Although some critics say that the data in the background check system isn’t as complete as it could be, it is still a more stringent process than the one needed to buy Sudafed.
Finally, there are restrictions on who can buy each product.
One is age. Under federal law, you must be 18 to buy a shotgun or a rifle and 21 to buy a handgun. (States can choose to set higher age minimums.) Maine has not set a minimum age for purchasing Sudafed, unlike such states as Alabama, Arkansas and Ohio, which have set the minimum age at 18.
Maine law specifically bars two other categories of potential gun purchasers: people convicted of assault or other violent misdemeanors, and convicted domestic abusers. People in those categories would be able to purchase Sudafed.
Where people who support tougher gun laws have a point are on purchases that do not involve a federally licensed dealer.
Federal law specifically rules out a required license if a person "makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms."
This can sometimes be a fuzzy distinction, but it means many gun sellers do not need a license. And if they don’t have a license, the laws for federally licensed sellers don’t apply to their sales.
Gun shows can include licensed dealers or private sellers. The licensed sellers need to run a background check on buyers; the unlicensed sellers don’t.
In Maine, "individuals who would otherwise be blocked from purchasing a weapon can go to a private seller and purchase a weapon, no questions asked," said Chris Harris, vice president for communications for Giffords, a group that lobbies for tougher gun laws. "This is the classic 'gun show loophole’."
The bottom line, Harris said, is that in Maine, "there is nothing to stop someone from buying a gun without so much as showing an ID, let alone going through a background check. That same person could not find a place to buy Sudafed without showing an ID."
Watts said, "It is harder to buy Sudafed than an AR-15 in Maine."
It depends on the context.
In most ways, the process for buying a gun from a federally licensed dealer under federal and Maine law is more stringent than federal and state laws governing the purchase of Sudafed. The gun purchase requires attesting to the buyer’s legal ability to buy a gun on a federal form, as well as passing an instant background check. Also, many people with criminal convictions cannot buy a gun but can buy Sudafed.
However, if someone chooses to purchase a gun from an unlicensed seller, the process will likely be more stringent for buying Sudafed.
我们认为这种说法有一半是对的。
