Following Monday’s Supreme Court decision on straw purchases,
the National Shooting Sports Foundation released a statement reminding
gun sellers and buyers that buying a firearm as a gift is not illegal. “The ruling has resulted in confusion among federal
firearm licensees, particularly relating to gift purchases of firearms,”
the NSSF, the lobby group for gun makers and retailers, said. The group added, “It is our understanding that the Supreme
Court ruling does not make it illegal for a consumer to purchase
firearms as gifts.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that a
straw purchase — buying a gun from a gun store for someone legally
prohibited from owning one — does include buying a gun for someone not
prohibited from owning one as well. The ruling stems from the case Abramski v. United States,
where a Virginia man was acting as an agent for the true buyer of the
firearm, his uncle. By declaring he was the actual buyer on Form 4473,
the Virginia man violated the straw purchase law, because in effect he
was acting as an agent for his uncle who had provided the money for the
purchase. “As expressly noted in the instructions on the Form 4473
for Section 11.a. Actual Transferee/Buyer: For purposes of this form,
you are the actual transferee/buyer if you are purchasing the firearm
for yourself or otherwise acquiring the firearm for yourself (e.g.,
redeeming the firearm from pawn/retrieving it from consignment, firearm
raffle winner),” the NSSF explained, and emphasized, “You are also the
actual transferee/buyer if you are legitimately purchasing the firearm
as a gift for a third party.” However, if buying a firearm as a gift still makes you
nervous, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives recommends buying a gift certificate instead...more
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
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