Sometimes the straw purchasers are obvious, gun dealers say. A man with a blemished criminal record comes into a store, points to the gun he wants and has his girlfriend signs all the paperwork.
But it?s not always so easy for dealers to tell whether a customer is making an illegal purchase for someone whose criminal record bars them from owning a gun ? and still, dealers say, they?re often the ones making the judgment call. Federal officials hope to help out, curbing straw purchases in Baltimore with a campaign announced Tuesday aimed at educating customers and boosting dealers? awareness of the problem.
“If you buy a gun for a convicted felon, then you can be prosecuted,” said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, whose office joined other federal officials and the National Shooting Sports Foundation to promote the program?s Baltimore debut. “If people understand the kind of consequences they might face, they?re more likely to pay attention.”
Public service announcements about the illegality of making straw purchases and life-sized cardboard advertisements of a person in handcuffs, strategically placed in the showrooms of federally licensed gun dealerships, are part of the “Don?t Lie For the Other Guy” campaign, Rosenstein?s office said.
“It?s important to educate the public about it,” said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sport Foundation. “We don?t want the would-be straw purchaser to even enter the store.”
