ATF Town Hall on Straw Man Purchases

Shot Show - Straw Man Purchases

Day 3 was our goof-off day in Vegas.  We started out by attending a town hall meeting with the ATF to learn about "Straw Man Purchases".  This is the part of the gun control act that prohibits any person from purchasing a gun on the behalf of another person.  There are several different elements to an actual straw man purchase.  First, the person who wants the gun may be prohibited from buying the weapon himself, or may want to avoid having his name attached to the gun.  In an extreme case, the actual buyer is paying people $200 for every gun they can buy and deliver to a gun runner.  The Straw Purchaser is given the money to buy the gun and fill out the paperwork to pass the background check.  This is how prohibited felons and gun runners are getting armed.  I always thought that the supply of guns for illegal purposes would come largely from private sales, since they are not regulated, but it seems that up to 70% of the guns found at a recent drug cartel training camp came from gun stores in the US - Arizona, California and Texas. 

The second element in a straw purchase is the person who fills out the paperwork (The Straw Man), and the fact that he is lying on a federal document - since he is not the intended owner of the gun.  The first question on the form 4473 is:  Are you the actual buyer of the firearm listed on this form?  A person who buys a gun for someone else who may be prohibited from owning one (or just doesn't want anyone to know he is the owner) can get up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  The person selling the gun to the straw purchaser can get the same sentence.  Believe it or not, it happens right here in little old Union on a regular basis.  A guy comes in to buy a gun and gets denied on the background check.  The next day his girlfriend comes in and wants to buy the same gun.  Now, I know this girlfriend just wants to make her significant other happy.  He is probably never going to rob a liquor store with it, and he is probably never going to cause any problems.  BUT, he has just put his girlfriend in danger of spending the next 10 years in jail and she probably doesn't have any idea. 

This law has good intentions.  People need to think before they conspire to put guns into the hands of someone who can't have them.  I believe in our Second Amendment Rights so strongly that I was willing to get a Federal Firearms License, knowing that my life and my actions would be subject to inspection by the ATF at any time.  Every time someone puts a gun into the hands of a felon, every time a gun owner breaks a game law, and every time some gun owner is caught brandishing a gun at someone out of anger, it gives the gun haters a little more ammunition in their holy war to take away our weapons and our shooting sports.  We all have to promote responsible gun ownership if we want to prevail over the leftist media and the uneducated politicians. 

AND - to all those girlfriends and brothers and best friends out there contemplating helping someone out by buying a gun that he or she is not allowed to own - DON'T!  Your loved one risks a felon in possession of a firearm conviction and you will risk 10 years in prison and a lifetime ban of owning any guns yourself.  Law enforcement is deadly serious about this issue and they will not cut you any slack if you are caught trying to buy a gun for someone else.  Most people have no idea how bad this issue really is.   If you want to help someone, help him or her work on getting their guns rights restored.  It takes a lot of paperwork, but it involves less time in jail and it won't cost you $250,000.

P.S.  It is NOT a straw purchase if you buy a gun as a gift.  You are the person buying the gun and it is intended to remain yours until you gift it to the other person.  Just be sure that you don't gift it to a prohibited person, or you could still be in trouble.  You can always bring the recipient to the store and let him or her pick out the gun and fill out the paperwork.  What's more fun than picking out your own gift?