Today a gun ordinance goes into effect in Missoula. It mandates all private gun sales and transfers go through background checks from a federally licensed firearm dealer.

City council approved the resolution last month after spending a year in committee, but people are still skeptical about the process.

Here's how it works:

If a gun owner wants to sell a gun, he must bring that gun to a federally licensed firearm dealer. The dealer then essentially takes ownership of the gun while he does a background check on the buyer. If that buyer fails the background check, the dealer now has to do a background check on the gun owner in order to return the gun to him. If the owner fails the background check, now the dealer is left with a gun he doesn't want and he's out all the time he invested in getting the background checks.

That's why many gun shops are saying they are choosing not to participate.

"We run into a major logistical nightmare. And it's not good business sense. We're going to tie up more time and energy into the entire situation then we could deem even charging a fee to do that for the public. So just from a business standpoint, it does not make good sense for us," says Bob Burton, manager of Grizzly Gold & Silver.

According to the fine-print of the ordinance, guns shops are allowed to choose to opt in or out.

Burton says not only is it bad for the gun businesses, but it isn't going to work. He joins several other people who have said the ordinance is unenforceable since the proposal hit city council last year.

Missoula City Police previously said specific's would be outlined once the ordinance is in effect. As that day is now here, they say it's not really enforceable unless people report it.

MPD Sergeant Travis Welsh says it is a "complaint driven" process. If somebody reports an incident where an illegal transaction is happening, police will investigate, but they are not actively patrolling the streets looking for it. Citizens have to be the eyes and ears for the police if they want to see enforcement. It will be treated like any city ordinance.

If offenders are caught, it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 on the first offense. Multiple offenses could include more fines and even jail time up to 6 months.

The ordinance was officially adopted into city council, but the speaker of the Montana House asked Attorney General Tim Fox to weigh in. He has three months to issue his legal opinion. One he does, that legal opinion becomes law unless overruled by a state district court or the Montana Supreme Court.