Law could discourage "straw buyers" of guns

[SecularMotion]

One way to fight back against "straw buyers" who flood Chicago with guns is a "lost or stolen" law, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez says.

At a press conference last week, Alvarez talked about the law when asked about a Sun-Times series by Frank Main that documented how straw buyers purchase guns legally in the suburbs and then sell them to people who use the weapons in crimes in Chicago. If the gun is traced back, the straw buyer says it was lost or stolen.

"We have the past three years proposed a law down in Springfield called 'lost or stolen,' " Alvarez said. "I think it is a very common-sense law, and obviously it has gone nowhere down in Springfield."

By requiring a gun owner to report a lost or stolen gun within 72 hours of noticing it is missing, the law would discourage straw purchases, Alvarez said.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/backtalk/2012/09/i_know_there_is_no.html

[rrneck]

1. "...noticing it was missing..."

That's known as a loophole.

[gejohnston]

2. are they going to pawn shops?

the average crime gun in Illinois is about 12 years old, 11 years old national average. Does the state require FOID numbers be fed into a database when they buy from an FFL? It seems to me that they could use the data to look for trends that would single out those individuals, and turn that evidence over to the ATF for further investigation.

[virginia mountainman]

3. Isn't straw purchasing being a FEDERAL FELONY enough of an deterrent??

Adding more laws is nothing more than harassment, especially one that would be simple to evade by saying..

"Officer, you found MY GUN?!? How could that be it is safely locked away in the back of my "closet/safe" and has been for years?!

That is even easier to evade than taking a file and obliterating micro stamping, that at least takes a minute or two to do.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

4. The incredible MYTH...

...that the anti-rights controllers fall for is that a law can effect control.

Someone once told me that it is impossible to for a private citizen to get on a 757 with a loaded gun and fly to another city. I said it is certainly possible and there is absolutely no law against it. One does need to buy or rent the plane first but it's quite possible.

The same fellow then rephrased his claim and said that it is impossible for a private citizen to get on a publicly available commercial 757 with a loaded gun. I said it was possible but that you would need to bring plenty of ammo and be able to reload very quickly since you'd likely have to fire that gun often in order to make it as far as the plane.

Those determined to commit a criminal act will not be deterred by a law. Laws serve as criteria to convict those overtly evil among us. Thus gun control is not about guns; it's about control; further it's about who will be controlled.

[SecularMotion]

5. "anti-rights controllers"

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

10. Thanks

...for the thoughtful reply.

[SecularMotion]

11. Thanks for the bigotry

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

17. Maybe...

...you could grow a big'ol'tree in your yard.

[SecularMotion]

6. You're saying the law would be useless because gun owners are dishonest?

[Reasonable_Argument]

7. No

He's saying that criminals who engage in straw purchases would simply lie. Funny how criminals tend to break the law.

[SecularMotion]

8. Let the mountainman speak for himself

He doesn't need you to misinterpret his post.

[Reasonable_Argument]

9. I believe you're the one misinterpreting his post nt

[SecularMotion]

12. Read this slowly

Adding more laws is nothing more than harassment, especially one that would be simple to evade saying

"Officer, you found MY GUN?!? How could that be it is safely locked away in the back of my "closet/safe" and has been for years?!

Now who is evading the law here the gun owner or the criminal?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. The other criminal

If it was a straw purchase, the gun purchaser is also a criminal since they have violated the law

[gejohnston]

14. since we are talking about straw purchasers,

Last edited Sun Sep 9, 2012, 07:21 PM - Edit history (1)

it would be a criminal possibly trying to beat a federal rap. Straw purchasing is a federal crime under Gun Control Act of 1968. By definition, committing a crime makes you a criminal. I think a better idea would be for each pistol purchase to be fed into a state computer along with the FOID number, if there are unusual trends, that information would go to the ATF for investigation. It would not be a registration system, it would say "this guy bought a pistol". Since Illinois has a licensing scheme, they should at least use it for something, since the Brady Bill made it kind of redundant.

Under the GCA, multiple pistol purchases at the same place, the dealer sends a form to the ATF, like what has been proposed for some rifles on the border states. But if you are a smart straw buyer, you go to five different dealers that day instead of buying five from the same place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_purchase#Firearms
http://www.dontlie.org/FAQ.cfm

I think a better idea would be for the feds to change the sentencing guidelines for straw purchasers from a couple of months to more than a couple of years.

[Clames]

15. The criminal.

Not that hard to figure you if you read it slowly.

[rrneck]

16. How would the district attorney make that distinction? nt

[virginia mountainman]

19. I guess I should have typed it slower..

I am no miracle worker, but only one person is having trouble with my post.

WATER...WAAAAAATER......WATER....................WAAAAAAATER.............

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

18. OT question...

...just for fun and information, maybe you could add something to the text of the subject line of future OPs that would let the rest of us know whether you were considering participating downthread at all.

Just a thought.

[krispos42]

20. Illinois has an FOID card

Firearm Owner Identification card. Seems to me that, since in Illinois you have to prove your right to own a gun to the police, then it would be a relatively simple matter to make a law saying that you can only sell a gun to another person that has an FOID card. Else, jail time.

Or they, as the state government, can require that all firearms transactions go through an FFL.

Or they can re-legalize pot.