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John Lazar's avatar

Straw purchases are felonies. If a firearms dealer even suspects that is what is happening, they will refuse the sale.

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Jason W Park, PhD's avatar

Let's look at it this way: any crime requires three elements.

(1) motivation

(2) ability

(3) opportunity

In straw purchases, that means you need

(1) the person who wants the gun

(2) the person who buys the gun

(3) the gun dealer who sells the gun

If all three coincide, the crime will be committed. And this situation occurs, leading to a lot of guns floating around in the streets and getting picked up by law enforcement. So we know it happens, even if the crime is a serious felony.

Jason

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