Reply #81: Tersely answered in #55, more verbosely here. [View All]

[ManiacJoe]

Ed is responsible for Ed's actions. Ed alone commits the robbery then Ed alone does the time for robbery, assuming no knowledge by Joe.

If Joe did not allow the transfer of the gun to Ed, then Ed stole it thus adding more jail time to Ed's sentence.

If Joe allowed the transfer of the gun to Ed ("Sure, use it any time you want."), then the transfer was either legal because Ed was not prohibited or illegal because Ed has previous felonies. If the transfer was illegal, Joe pays the price for his failure to secure the gun against unauthorized users.

Charging each with the correct charge is quite simple, as shown above. Whether the prosecutor can convince a jury that Joe's transfer was really illegal is a different story.