美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-04-16

 It's a simple idea, just how easily can you buy a gun at a gun show? So a CNN crew took a weekend drive 600 miles with a pocket full of cash hitting five gun shows in three states, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia. 

 

First up, Alagiay in North Georgia. The venue¹ is small and the selection limited. 

 

There weren't a lot of vendors². There wasn't a lot of product out there for people to buy. 

 

Next, the crew went north to Kingsford in Tennessee for a Saturday morning local gun show held in a hotel convention center. It was a Smith and Wesson M.P. 45-calibre semiautomatic that first caught our producer's eye. Asking price $625. 

 

It's a nice one. It's not brand spanking³ new. 

 

It's a deal. Cash and carry, or do I have to fill out any paperwork for it?

 

But it's early. And the team opts⁴ to keep looking. 10 to 20 minutes later, they circle back to the same table negotiating for the same gun. 

 

It's a deal. No background check. It's not needed for a private sale. But the seller is legally required to check I.D., like a driver's license⁵, to make sure the buyer is not from out of state. In this case, no identification asked for, no paperwork, not even a question like, what are you going to do with it. In fact, neither the seller nor buyer even used a first name. 

 

And if that's not surprising enough, listen to what the seller said he got the gun. 

 

I got that off of a police officer yesterday. 

 

Really? 

 

Yes. 

 

That's right. He got it from a police officer. 

 

Anyway you'd part with both of these for a thousand?

 

It was so easy. For the next buy, the team decided⁶ to up the ante(加大赌注). 

 

Umm, probably not at this point, by now. That one right there's very, very new. 

 

This time, they see two 9-millimeter semiautomatic handguns, Glock 17s. Asking price for the pair is $1,100. The producer offers a flat $1,000. That's rejected. The next bid of $1050 prompts a phone call. 

 

Let me see what he says. One of them is his. One is mine. 

 

In fact, in all of the deals the team paid less than the asking price. 

 

All right. We can do $1050. 

 

The producer boxes the guns in their carrying cases and heads for the door. Again, no names, no I.D., no paperwork, not even a receipt. Total time at the gun show, 45 minutes. $1,650 spent. Three semiautomatic handguns purchased. 

 

Incidentally(顺便提及), because there's no paper trail, none of these weapons can be traced to the buyer. 

 

Later, the same day, in Greenville, South Carolina, and it's the biggest show of the five our team attended. After wandering the floor, our producer spots this gentleman carrying a semiautomatic on his shoulder. Asking price, $1,200.

 

1 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

2 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 spanking   

adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股

参考例句：

• The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。
• He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。

4 opts   

v.选择，挑选( opt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• One player hoping to get another chance to shine if Mourinho opts to rest Cole backBridge. 假如穆里尼奥安排阿。科尔轮休，那么同一位置上的将会得到一个上场的机会来证实自己。 来自互联网
• If he opts out this summer, he d sign a five year deal. 如果今夏跳出，他估计会签五年。 来自互联网

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。