Undercover Report Finds Widespread Illegal Gun Sales Online in Kentucky

After launching an online undercover investigation, Mayors Against Illegal Guns released a report Thursday showing extensive illegal gun sales across the country with an alarming number coming from Kentucky sellers.The bi-partisan gun control group includes Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer as a member and they are urging websites that allow gun advertisements to take steps to reduce illegal firearm sales. Of the six Kentucky sellers contacted by investigators, five agreed to sell a weapon to a purchaser who said they could "probably not" pass a background check. The dealers were located in Danville, London and Louisville and offered both handguns and assault weapons, with asking prices that ranged from $275 to $1,000 per gun. "Today, yet another undercover investigation gives us a chilling look into America’s illegal gun market,” coalition co-chair, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said in a news release. "We have been arguing for years that protecting public safety in our cities requires effective and comprehensive background checks. Now we know even more about how easily criminals and the mentally ill can buy guns from private sellers who don’t require background checks. Make no mistake, this threatens the lives of the police officers who patrol our cities and the residents they are sworn to protect."The group released an audio recording of a gun dealer in Louisville, who agreed to sell a Polytech Hunter AK assault rifle to an apparent prohibited purchaser for $400 cash.Check it out:The mayor's group is asking the public to urge website that allow gun sales to join the "The Delete Online Outlaws" campaign and adopt the following policies to help prevent illegal online gun sales: 1. Require sellers to register with the site before listing guns for sale online. 2. Require buyers to register with the site before contacting gun sellers. 3. Provide a simple mechanism to flag suspicious behavior in gun sales - and remove suspicious ads. 4. Develop rigorous self-policing measures, including internal auditing procedures like "secret shopping," to detect and deter suspicious activity.WFPL is awaiting comment from Fischer's office.