Remember the vast majority of those transfers are between people who know each other,which really changes the equation. That includes transfers between family, friends, etc.
Now with the internet it has expanded the number of non-related transfers betwene private people, they post on facebook or wherever then meet in person to buy/sell, but in truth that's still a small number compared to all gun transfers b/c it's a) riskier, and b) more trouble in many cases.
I'm not saying those transfers aren't out there, but it's a lot lower than you might think. Of those we'd want to check, the transfers between strangers hooking up to buy/sell, what are the chances they'll obey a law to do checks? Some will, many won't. One reason they're going that route is to stay off the radar, and they don't believe in the government tracking what they are doing on principle.
One thing we could do is change the law on NICS checks to allow for voluntary checks. Right now as a FFL it's actually illegal for me to run a check on anyone not buying a gun from me. If you wanted to sell your gun to Joe and Joe was willing to be checked, I still couldn't do it without you transferring the gun to me, then me transferring to Joe. FFLs dont' want that hassle. But if we were to allow for checks for private transfers on a voluntary basis we'd get a lot of them, certainly most that would obey a required law, without having to make it a law.
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