Those background checks take anywhere from five to 15 minutes to complete, according to Sarah Brucker with Axmen. It’s not the cost or time that makes Axmen unwilling to perform the checks, she said, it’s dealing with a gun that they have no stake in.

But Ward 1 City Council representative Bryan von Lossberg said he thought it was unlikely Missoulians would have no way to comply with the law. Missoula had 58 registered FFL holders as of December 2015, according to a list on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ website.

“I don’t think that hypothetical will arise,” he said. “It would be pretty sad …that (FFL holders) would stop doing it.”

Von Lossberg said that as he worked on the ordinance, he found more and more gun owners who already were in the habit of checking who they sold guns to, a practice he hoped would set an example for the community.

Ward 6 representative and co-sponsor of the ordinance Marilyn Marler similarly challenged those who opposed the ordinance to set an example as gun owners.