Gonna buy a buddy a handgun...which one?

[RetiredUSNChief]

So that's it gents....it will be a Glock. Thanks for all you input!

PS: for you worry warts, I'm going to have him do all the paper and I'll just put the purchase on my credit card.

Congratulations!

However, I think you should re-read the posts people have been making on the subject of "straw man" buying. Most especially post #31.

Don't mix and match the paperwork and payment between two people. Frank Ettin's postings opened my eyes on this a little bit because he looks at these things through the eyes of a lawyer. Though I do not personally believe that this constitutes a straw purchase, what I think and what the law may think aren't always the same thing.

Regardless of what people may think and interpret on whether or not this may be considered a straw purchase, it is common sense to stay out of the grey areas on this when it comes to firearms.

Get him a gift card or some such other monitary gift and let him do the actual purchase, from the paperwork all the way down to the actual payment. It would be a simple matter to figure out what it would actually cost, including taxes and maybe a box of ammunition or a holster, and get him a Visa gift card or a store gift certificate.




And please drop us a note to let us know what your friend thinks of it.

 

[hentown]

Buying a handgun or any other firearm for a friend or relative as a gift isn't a straw purchase. A straw purchase is when one buys a firearm for somebody who isn't eligible to buy a firearm from an FFL.

 

[michaelbsc]

Buying a handgun or any other firearm for a friend or relative as a gift isn't a straw purchase. A straw purchase is when one buys a firearm for somebody who isn't eligible to buy a firearm from an FFL.

I think BATFE sees a straw purchase broader than this. Even if the intended ultimate recepient is eligible it is a straw purchase if an intermediary is used to hide the identity of the "real" purchaser. That's actually the meaning of straw purchase. Like some states have a limit on the number of handgun purchases in a specific number of days, so you buy an extra one for them.

Obviously when buying someone a present you aren't intending to hide their identity from the NCIS check. You're intending to hide the fact that they're getting a birthday present from the recipient.

The government really doesn't care what information you hide from your brother or your fishing buddy. They care what you hide from the government.

 

[Sam1911]

Buying a handgun or any other firearm for a friend or relative as a gift isn't a straw purchase. A straw purchase is when one buys a firearm for somebody who isn't eligible to buy a firearm from an FFL.

WOW, this is getting exasperating! Frank has laid this out very clearly and we even have a sticky thread on it!

A straw purchase happens ANY TIME the person filling out the paperwork is not the actual buyer of the gun. It does not matter if the person who is really buying the gun is prohibited from owning the gun or not.

If your own wife or brother says, "here's $500, go buy me a Glock," that would be a straw purchase.

If you buy a gun with the intent to GIVE it to someone as a GIFT, that is not a straw purchase. You bought it (with your money) to give to someone as a gift. You are the purchaser.

(Now, if you then give it to your neighbor who you know is a felon, that's another set of crimes, but NOT a straw purchase.)

 

[tarosean]

In attempt to get it back on track, go with the revolver.

 

[Sam1911]

In attempt to get it back on track, go with the revolver.

Well...he's already posted THIS:

So that's it gents....it will be a Glock. Thanks for all you input!

So, seeing as the "ON" track is now at the end of the line, let's close this rather than rehash the straw purchase question further.

But I'll make a final comment regarding this:

PS: for you worry warts, I'm going to have him do all the paper and I'll just put the purchase on my credit card.

Just buy the gun, fill out the paperwork, take it to him and GIVE it to him as a gift. That's legal and doesn't make the dealer wonder, "what's "really" going on here? "

 

[Frank Ettin]

I'm just going to add this final note by way of clarification.

...Though I do not personally believe that this constitutes a straw purchase, what I think and what the law may think aren't always the same thing...

What the OP plans to do, as described in post 49:

...I'm going to have him do all the paper and I'll just put the purchase on my credit card...

would not be a straw purchase and would be legal, since the buddy winds up with the gun. It's one way of buying a gift.

But as Sam pointed out, it's likely to raise some eyebrows, and it's seems to have been the the experience of others who have posted in other threads on this subject that staff at local gun shops often have an imperfect understanding of the law here. Of course, if the OP has built a relationship with the folks at that gun shop, they might accept his explanation.

It would be clean, as Sam suggests, for the OP to just buy the gun and then give it to his friend, but since they're in California, that transfer would also have to go through an FFL. Or the OP could just give his friend the cash.