Law could discourage "straw buyers" of guns

[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.