From the NSSF . . .

As part of an ongoing national effort to help prevent illegal “straw” purchases of firearms, the National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are reminding the Greater Chicago area public that stiff penalties are in place for individuals convicted of such unlawful purchases. The campaign is in its 21st year and is a cornerstone of the cooperative relationship of the firearm industry, law enforcement and retailers.

Billboard, radio, streaming audio and digital advertisements for the Don’t Lie For the Other Guy program have been purchased by NSSF in key locations throughout the region with the message: “Buy a gun for someone who can’t and buy yourself 10 years in jail. Don’t Lie For the Other Guy.”

The month-long public awareness campaign was officially launched today with a short press conference program at Maxon Shooters Supplies and Indoor Range in Des Plaines, Ill. Present at the event were representatives of the ATF Chicago Field Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana and NSSF.

The Chicago area “Don’t Lie” includes more than 33 outdoor billboards, digital bulletin boards and posters. There are also more than 150 radio spots playing and more than 2 million digital streaming radio service impressions. On social media, “Don’t Lie” advertisements total nearly 2.5 million targeted geo-fenced online mobile advertisements and almost 1 million Facebook and Instagram impressions. Chicago was chosen for this special campaign by ATF. No taxpayer dollars are used. The program is funded in full by the firearm industry.

“The firearm industry has always been focused on keeping firearms out of the hands of those who should not possess them. We are proud of our more than two-decade cooperative relationship with the ATF, the DOJ and the entire law enforcement community to assist them in their collective efforts to reduce criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms,” said Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO.

“Don’t Lie” is a cooperative program between ATF, DOJ and NSSF, the trade association for the firearm and ammunition industry. The effort was developed more than two decades ago to raise public awareness about the seriousness of the crime of purchasing a firearm for someone who cannot legally do so themself. The program also helps ATF educate firearm retailers to be better prepared to deter potential straw purchases. The public campaign drives home the message that anyone attempting an illegal firearm purchase faces a stiff federal felony penalty of up to 10 years in jail or up to $250,000 in fines.

To legally purchase a firearm, a person must be able to pass an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS check and fully comply with all state and local laws. When a criminal knows he or she cannot pass this check, they may try to induce a friend or other person to make the purchase on their behalf. This is known as a straw purchase and is a felony.

This public awareness campaign constitutes only part of the Don’t Lie For the Other Guy outreach effort. The full Don’t Lie For the Other Guy program, which also involves educating firearm retailers to better detect and prevent straw purchases, has been rolled out in major cities throughout the country. In the retailer segment, federal firearms licensees are provided a Don’t Lie For the Other Guy retailer kit containing a training video and informational brochure for store owners and staff, as well as point-of-purchase displays aimed to deter illegal straw purchases.

Learn more about Don’t Lie For the Other Guy at www.dontlie.org.

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53 COMMENTS

  1. Oh joy. The NSSF is huddling with the ATF and DOJ, two of the most honorable (cough cough), respected (cough cough), and liberty-minded entities in the nation.

    Cough, cough, cough, hack, gag, vomit…

    • …and when this ‘man’ had the chance to stand up to these organizations on 1/6 Freedom Day, he failed to show like the bitch made coward he is.

      • You keep calling others ‘coward’ but you refuse to say what you did on 1/6.

        You are the coward.

      • The real cowards change their user nics like spineless little boys.

        Very ‘little boys’, if you know what I mean…

        *wink* 😉

        • To whom it may concern…A Gun Control Zealot’s delight is propping their feet up and watching all the infighting. If you cannot cite your contributions to stop straw purchases, stop the criminal misuse of firearms and stop the filth who savor the thought of raids to disarm you then you need to cease pointing fingers at those who are at least breaking a sweat and point some fingers at yourself. IMO.

  2. Let me understand this….just what is the actual number of “straw purchases” conducted, or attempted, in a given year? In the last 10,20,30 yrs? How many of these “straw purchases” were situations where both persons in the incident could legally purchase a firearm on their own? How many “straw purchases” were between family members who could all legally purchase firearms? How many were actual attempts to evade the law? How many were legal purchases that days, weeks, months later resulted in a legal firearm passing into the hands of a prohibited person? And just how much money is being spent to “prevent” straw purchases?

    Let’s pick a random number of attempted and/or successful straw purchases? Pick a number. How ’bout 46,394 in 2020?

    OK. Total NICS checks in 2020 was ~20,000,000. Because it is an accepted proxy for gun sales, let’s compare 46,394 “straw purchases” were successfully accomplished. If my brain is functioning, 46,394/20,000,000 results in 0.0023179% of total purchases. And we are spending brain cells and actual legal tender trying to reduce the number of “straw purchases”?

    What, precisely, accolades do we expect the anti-gun mafia to award gun owners if NSSF entirely eliminated “straw purchases” for all time?

    Now, if there were a million “straw purchases”, maybe that would be worth looking away from the TV for a few moments.

    • Or go at it another way. How many people are in prison for “straw purchases”? The only one I ever heard of, for sure, was the girlfriend of one of the Columbine killers who bought firearms for an underage killer, and who the government declined to prosecute, even though her illegal action directly cost the lives of children. And she knew the plan was to attack the school and kill children (her classmates). Laws are useless if we will not prosecute and punish violators. Yet, every damn time someone breaks a few dozen laws to commit an illegal atrocity, the only result is to propose more laws.

      • “…the only result is to propose more laws.”

        Delivered to former brother-in-law a recap of all the laws the Columbine shooters broke, before they began shooting up the school. IIRC, it was about 16 felony laws. BIL said all that didn’t matter because if they didn’t have guns, they would not/could not break all those other laws. While I agreed that without guns, “gun crime” could not exist, BIL declared that guns make people literally crazy, willing to commit any number of crimes in order to be able to use a gun; guns actually cause people to become criminals.

        • “BIL declared that guns make people literally crazy“

          Would you deny that owning a gun makes one feel more powerful and invincible, able to decide life or death for those around them?

          Did you ever see the movie ‘taxi driver’?

          Tell the truth, have you ever stood in front of a mirror with a gun in your hand?

      • “Well said”

        Thank you.

        Happy to be here, grateful for the opportunity, proud to serve.

        • Sam, tell the truth, have you ever stood in front of a mirror with a gun in your hand?

  3. It sure seems that the law in Chicago is plea bargaining the gun charge away first. How many gangbangers are in jail today with an illegal possession gun charge?

  5. This is an absolute joke. The vast majority of Chicago murders are gang related. The DOJ has shown NO INTEREST in prosecuting straw purchasers or those who lie on the 4473. Who do they think they are fooling?

    • The mayor also has no interest in prosecuting gang bangers or shooters or drug dealers, simply wants the Feds to ship her money by the truckload and pass stupid and unconstitutional laws about guns

    • Well, the feds sure did prosecute these people, the two main perps received two years in the federal pen:

      “According to court documents, Gaines paid Joseph to supply him with particular firearms and Joseph, in turn recruited, and directed, straw purchasers to obtain firearms from gun stores in the Western District of Virginia. Joseph then delivered the weapons to Gaines in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland. Gaines subsequently sold those weapons to others. Joseph obtained approximately 40 firearms for Gaines during the course of the conspiracy. Both Joseph and Gaines are convicted felons and are prohibited from legally possessing firearms.

      The straw purchasers Joseph utilized, individuals whose lack of criminal history enabled them to purchase and possess firearms, were able to obtain the weapons on his behalf by falsely claiming on ATF Firearm Transaction Form that they were the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) when in fact they were not. For their role in this offense, Jazzmine Irvin, Janika Barksdale, and Ashley Gunter each were convicted of conspiracy to make false statements on a firearms form. Irvin and Barksdale were sentenced to 45 days in prison and a period of home confinement thereafter. Gunter received a sentence of 45 days home confinement. All defendants in this conspiracy were also sentenced to a term of supervised release.

      The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Danville Police Department, and the Lynchburg Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Coleman Adams prosecuted the case for the United States.“

      https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/defendants-who-orchestrated-straw-purchases-firearms-sentenced-prison-time

  6. They are not gangs , they are alternate pharmaceutical representatives . They are only protecting their market share, and keeping competitor brands in check to maximize the balance sheet for their investors.

    Some of the investors are very high up on the government and they want to keep the government contracts they spent a lot of time working the proper clientele for access.

    C’mon Man, you know the thing

    • “They are not gangs , they are alternate pharmaceutical representatives . They are only protecting their market share, and keeping competitor brands in check to maximize the balance sheet for their investors.”

      Comedy gold !!

  7. Groot blames Indiana. And Chucks gunshop. Unless you ban EVERY black person(or baby mama/girlfriend/wife) this BS effort is doomed to failure. The “good guy’s” should know that(of course they do). This virtue signaling will get lawful gun owners nothing🙁

    • “If only they would prosecute the bad guys. Oh wait, Chicago Democrats, never mind.

      FIFY

  9. This is all BS.

    This woman was selling guns on Facebook and was actually taking orders for them.
    She got a FOID card and bought Glocks at $600 apiece.
    She sold three Glocks to a gangbanger, kept one and put down $1000 on a FN 5.7.

    https://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/2017/04/mount-prospect-who-sold-guns-illegally-pleads-guilty-gets-probation/

    She got 15 days of community service and a year of probation.

    “The public campaign drives home the message that anyone attempting an illegal firearm purchase faces a stiff federal felony penalty of up to 10 years in jail or up to $250,000 in fines.”
    OR
    You might have to pick up trash for a couple of weeks on the side of an expressway.

    Don’t Lie For the Other Guy, what a farce.

  10. It’s all well and good, but it doesn’t affect the real straw purchaser issue, where people are knowingly and purposely buying guns for unlicensed recreation pharmaceutical sales reps, i.e. gang bangers. They aren’t doing it to help out a buddy — there’s something in it for the buyer. They’re either a junkie without a record that’s doing it for drugs or to clear a drug debt, a gang associate that’s making money on the transaction, or an intimate partner that’s helping out their loved ones. I’d add newly jumped in gang members, but they usually are too young to buy when they join and have a record by the time they’re 21. There’s probably a few guys who are buying something for a buddy or relative with a record, but the buddy probably isn’t still actively involved in crime and wants it for hunting or protection. This last category is where the campaign is the most effective, but it’s the least threatening to society.

    • I would suspect that, if *anyone* is actually prosecuted and imprisoned, it is more likely someone who did a buddy a favor and picked up a gun for him as a convenience, since either could do it but the buddy was real busy. IOW, no prohibited person involved at all, no reason for the transaction to be illegal. I had a buddy pick up a Python for me, since he was driving to that city for the weekend from the college we were attending and I rarely got there at all. Pythons were NEVER real easy to find, I had located one in a gun store but had no way to pick it up. At the time, it was not illegal for me to have a handgun while under 21, nor for him to buy it for delivery to me. Those laws have arrived since and look at all the benefits we have seen from them! NOT!!!!

    • Good for the NSSF! Who in their right mind would defend straw purchases.

      20 million NICS checks in 2020, 30,000 “straw purchases” in 2020. Just how much effort needs to be put into something so small. And at what cost? And for what specific goal? Reduce “straw purchases” by some, a bunch, many, a few, if it stops only one?

      • Hey, NSSF!

        Aren’t you concerned that this campaign gives the public the impression that straw purchases are a gigantic problem that needs more laws to resolve?

        This campaign only strengthens the gun grabbers hand by magnifying the impression that guns are the problem and that enough has not been done to limit access to firearms.

        You may be thinking this campaign puts you in a heroic light in the public’s eyes, but as long as the focus is on gun control the point that bad folk do not obey the law is missed.

        How may people will be dissuaded from enabling a straw purchase by this campaign vs how many will will be led to believe gun owners often sell their guns to bad folk?

        NSSF, you should reconsider.

      • “30,000 “straw purchases” in 2020. Just how much effort needs to be put into something so small“

        Yeah, 30,00 Prohibited persons gaining possession of a firearm, what could possibly go wrong?

        • Show me *ONE* thing which went wrong from those 30,000 purchases? Not your snotty “possibly”, but actually. Can’t do it, can you? What a useless waste of a completely secret amount of taxpayer money.

  14. Could you imagine the troubles you’d have building a UniverseEndingPerpetualFusionNuetrino Blomb without a few straw purchases.
    It’s not easy finding 356,000 refrigerator magnets without raising a few eye brows. And a spin around on a go faster,, whew, you just try and come up with one of them without the Elf Bee Eye catching wind.

  15. What about Hunter Biden falsifying a 4473? Oh, let’s just look the other way shall we. Nothing to see folks, just move along!!

    • Love to call that preferential treatment, but I doubt it is. I suspect there were a few million who did the same and nobody noticed. Such laws are not meant to be enforced, they are building blocks, so that the next time one gangbanger shoots another we can demand *another* completely ineffective and unenforceable law, rinse and repeat until we finally conquer the Golden Fleece, talking the rubes into “universal background checks”, which is ALSO ineffective and unenforceable, except for the massive registry, so that after the next shooting the obvious reaction should be door-to-door confiscation and murder. The registry is ALWAYS the goal, try to even imagine how background checks could possibly prevent a crime, ever. If that proves difficult, recall that we have had background checks for 30+ years, what difference have they made? Hint: the answer is “NONE”!

  16. This campaign is wasted time and treasure as long as Kim Foxx is Cook county states attorney.
    She will not prosecute The gang members committing the crimes in the city and surrounding parts of cook county.

    • Yeah, but if you buy your father (or your son) a firearm for Christmas, she may very well try to put *YOU* in prison for10 years!!!

  17. Everything else aside, my bet is NSSF created the campaign as a chip to cash-in when the gun grabbers come for hunting rifles and clay pigeon shooting.

    The alleged 100million gun owners are not 100million activist 2A defenders. If it were otherwise we likely would not be having these discussions.

  18. You are fooling yourself if you thing anyone can prevent something from happening!
    That’s what all the guns laws are for (at least that’s what they say) how well is that working?
    But keep chasing your tail & especially in Shitcago!

    • “You are fooling yourself if you thing anyone can prevent something from happening!“

      What wisdom, you are exactly right!
      Why bother having any laws because there’s no way “anyone can invent some thing from happening!”

      Hilarious!

  19. They gonna prosecute this law the same as they prosecute murder, rape, intent to distribute, violent rioting, etc??? Another feel good attempt to placate the usual suspects!

  20. avatar If we stop one straw purchase, all the gun crime in Shitcago will cease and no one else will get shot!

    Just put the criminals in jail, run a few through a wood chipper when they catch them! And watch the crime numbers drop like a prom dress after midnight!

  21. It’s not” straw purchases” they’re actually trying to end/ban/ prohibit.
    It’s an end to buying/selling/ trading between people who already own firearms where legal.
    Make no mistake- they want to criminalize lawful activity on places outside of the less free states,set up a situation where one can have/ own/ posess/ carry/buy/ sell/ trade without”approval”.
    They seek to make it The United States Of DC/ NYC/ Chicago/ NJ/ Massachusetts…not just with firearms, but eventually all things.
    They perpetuate the cycle of non- enforcement against actual criminals to maintain and pump up stats to drive a narrative and fuel an agenda… said narrative being that” unscreened gun purchase is a problem and one creating a Crime Wave.. back to that: if you are a ” Prohibited Person”-! not that I believe that we should have the term for anyone not currently incarcerated/ on parole/ probation/ legal notification…if you know someone who IS ” prohibited” for actual crimes deemed” mala in se” vs ‘ malum prohibidorum” that would indicate they’ve” lost their rights’ why ever would you release them back into society if they’re still ” dangerous’? And then use their purported dangerous presence to interfere with and infringe Rights Endowed By The Creator

  22. Nice sentiment. And will be about as effective as the Just say no to drugs campaign.
    Most of the straw purchases are friends and family of those who should not have guns because they are violent thugs with felony convictions already. Anyone who does this purchase already knows that while it is illegal, the ATF, or FBI, or even the local police are not likely to bother following up on anything. So this is nothing but another level of bureaucratic red tape the FFL dealers and actual law abiding buyers will have to put up with.
    Want to reduce crime and criminal use of firearms? Start enforcing the laws already on the books and keep the violent criminals in prison, or start executing them in public, as horrificly as you can. While it is not a deterrent to the more hard core criminal, being drawn and quartered might make some dumb kid rethink getting involved in the first place.

    • I have seen Saudi, and it is extremely law abiding and comfortable. If you commit a serious crime, or any of several ridiculous non-crimes anywhere else, a nice man will cut your head off in public within a week. Not 20 years, a week. At least that is the way it was in 1991. And it WORKED!

  23. It seems the feds are prosecuting plenty of the strawman conspirators, right here in Chicago:

    “CHICAGO — A man has been charged with a federal firearm offense for allegedly “straw purchasing” guns in Indiana on behalf of a convicted felon in Chicago.

    On three occasions this summer, BRIAN HAYWOOD purchased guns from stores in Hammond, Ind., and falsely certified on federal forms that he was the actual buyer, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. In reality, Haywood purchased the guns on behalf of a convicted felon from Chicago whom Haywood knew was prohibited from legally purchasing firearms on his own, the complaint states. The felon directed Haywood to buy certain firearms that he wanted and then provided him with the purchase money and an additional fee of $250 per gun, according to the charges.“

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-charges-accuse-man-straw-purchasing-guns-indiana-behalf-convicted-felon-chicago

    • One man somehow equates to “plenty”? You a sick minor. Why did this bad guy need 3 guns, and why wasn’t he arrested after the first one was delivered, preventing the other 2 “crimes” COMPLETELY? Think of the CHILDREN!

  24. Happens all the time, people are sent to the federal pen for strawman transactions. Yes, they could do more, especially the local and state authorities, but the feds are going after it.

    “ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Manassas man was sentenced today to one year in prison for straw purchasing a firearm.

    “Straw purchasing a firearm is a federal crime with serious consequences,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We are doubling down on our efforts across the DMV to prosecute any and all straw purchasing cases. It should send a strong message to those who would come into Virginia to illegally purchase firearms – Don’t lie and buy for the other guy. You will be prosecuted.”

    According to court documents, in January 2017, Robert Marshall, 25, and another individual visited a Federal Firearm Licensee (FFL) in Woodbridge. The individual spent several minutes examining firearms, left the store, and then Marshall attempted to purchase one of the firearms examined by individual. Marshall paid for a semi-automatic pistol capable of accepting a large capacity magazine, and returned the next day to complete ATF paperwork and undergo a background check. After completing the sale, FFL staff members immediately reported the sale to law enforcement as a possible straw purchase. Law enforcement officers located Marshall the same day, and Marshall claimed that he was no longer in possession of the firearm. Marshall admitted to being paid by the individual and another person to purchase the firearm, and that he had not answered the questions on the ATF form truthfully.“

    https://www.atf.gov/news/pr/man-sentenced-prison-illegal-straw-purchase-firearm

  25. And did someone say it’s really just a small problem, but there are those who would say that strawman transactions can have a big impact on the victims life:

    “SALT LAKE CITY – A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday afternoon charges two individuals with violations of federal law involving the alleged straw purchase of a Beretta PX4 Storm .40-caliber handgun. The handgun was purchased from a federal firearms dealer in Salt Lake City on Sept. 8, 2018.

    The firearm remained in the possession of one of the defendants until Oct. 17, 2018, when he loaned it to an acquaintance, identified in the indictment as M.S.R. Five days later, Melvin Rowland used the Beretta to kill University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey.

    The indictment alleges Sarah Emily Lady, age 24, of Mapleton, Utah, and Nathan Daniel Vogel, age 21, of Millcreek, Utah, knowingly made false and fictitious statements intended to deceive a firearms dealer while purchasing the firearm. The indictment alleges Lady falsely answered “yes” to a question asking whether she was the actual buyer of the firearm knowing that Vogel was the intended actual purchaser of the firearm.“

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr/two-individuals-charged-firearm-violation-conspiracy-connection-straw-purchase-gun

    • So you are asserting that this stupid law did absolutely *nothing* to prevent this cited murder? Good post, glad you’re on our side. AND, from your post, the purchasers kept the gun for 5 weeks and then LOANED it to someone else? That is not even close to a straw purchase, if they just refuse any plea deals and demand a jury trial, the charges will have to be dropped.

  26. And the hits just keep coming, here’s one from just a couple months back:

    “HARRISBURG—Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced the arrest of two Lehigh County men for their roles in the illegal straw purchases of 29 firearms. This was a joint investigation by the Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Section, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Emmaus Police Department.

    “Purchasing a gun for someone who isn’t legally able to carry one is a crime that leads to shootings and murders. People need to know — we follow up on these guns and we hold straw purchasers accountable across Pennsylvania,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “Ghost guns, like the one found by investigators executing a search warrant, are quickly becoming the weapon of choice for criminals that take the lives of too many Pennsylvanians. Our Gun Violence Section is working overtime with our federal law enforcement partners to get these untraceable weapons off the street and out of our communities.”

    James Gleason, 38, and Reynold Lewis, 37, were arrested earlier this week after agents from the Office of Attorney General and ATF concluded an investigation into the illegal purchase of dozens of firearms. Agents learned that Gleason was instructed by Lewis to make straw purchases of firearms to pay back debt related to Gleason’s methamphetamine use. Gleason is alleged to have facilitated the 29 illegal purchases of firearms through a straw purchaser from at least seven different firearms dealers in four months.”

    https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/press-releases/ag-shapiro-arrests-two-in-lehigh-county-for-straw-purchasing-29-guns-seizes-ghost-gun/

  27. We all wish the federal authorities, as well as state and local authorities, wiuld do a better job of pursuing strawman conspirators, but some agencies are indeed working to put criminals in jail for violating these laws.
    This strawman purchaser received 2 1/2 years in the federal pen, that is slightly more than just a slap on the wrist, wouldn’t you say?

    “RICHMOND, Va. – A Chesterfield County man was sentenced today to two and a half years in prison for making false statements when he purchased firearms for a convicted felon.

    “Straw purchasers are often literally arming criminals,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This poses a serious threat to public safety and the safety of our law enforcement partners. Simply put, convicted felons have forfeited their Second Amendment right to bear arms, and those who choose to straw purchase firearms for prohibited individuals will be investigated, prosecuted, and may themselves become convicted felons and therefore unable to possess or purchase firearms for themselves or others. We will continue to aggressively pursue these cases, seek to obtain felony convictions, and work with local federally licensed firearms dealers and our partners at the ATF to stop the flow of illegally purchased firearms from hitting the street.”

    According to court documents, Jeremy Durand Lewis, 35, purchased seven guns for Abdul Shahid Davis, a convicted felon, at federally licensed firearms dealers in Virginia between July and November 2015. When purchasing these firearms, Lewis falsely stated on forms that he was the actual purchaser of the firearms, when, in fact, he was purchasing them for Davis. Davis then sold those guns to an undercover New York City Police Detective.“

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/man-sentenced-straw-purchasing-firearms-convicted-felon

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