While Some Clamor for More Gun Laws, Judges Aren’t Enforcing Existing Laws

The battle against gun control activists who proclaim ad nauseum that more Second Amendment restrictions on law-abiding Americans is the only answer to combatting crime never ceases. This is despite the fact, played out repeatedly in the real world, that criminals don’t follow laws.

On the other hand, the firearm industry as a whole – and frontline firearm retailers specifically – have longstanding partnerships with law enforcement organizations and federal agencies to educate the public on the stiff penalties and consequences facing them should they break laws regarding firearm purchasing and possession. Neighborhood federal firearms licensees (FFLs), after all, are often the first line of defense to prevent firearm crimes and keep communities safe. This work is done while continuing to respect Constitutional rights.

Keeping the decades of cooperation and hard work in mind to combat criminal misuse of firearms, and the amount of resources expended by the firearm industry, local law enforcement and neighborhood gun retailers, the media reporting that a particular repeat straw purchaser in Kent, Wash., will only spend three years in jail is especially beyond the pale.

133 Illegal ‘Straw Purchases’

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranks Washington state among the Top 10 states with the “safest” (i.e., most restrictive) gun control laws in the country. It garnered that distinction after recently enacting even more gun control laws and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has never seen a gun control policy he didn’t crave.

Being such a strict gun control state, it is mind boggling what a federal judge did after a recent particularly egregious case involving an illegal “straw purchaser” of guns.

Local media reported Dion Cooper of Kent, Wash., pleaded guilty to multiple federal firearm charges, including trafficking in firearms, making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of firearms and straw purchasing firearms.

But this wasn’t just a one-time straw purchaser who was caught. In fact, Cooper didn’t illegally “straw purchase” a dozen firearms either. Cooper, between the years 2021 and 2023, illegally “straw purchased” 133 firearms and then provided the firearms to convicted felons or juveniles who couldn’t legally purchase nor possess the firearms on their own.

“Dion Cooper was the largest known straw purchaser in the history of the western district of Washington,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg, who prosecuted Cooper’s case. “Fifty-four of the guns that Dion Cooper purchased were linked in and used in violent crimes – a homicide, drive-by shootings, armed robberies, bank robberies, assaults – this wasn’t theoretical at all, these guns caused immense harm in our community.”

After all that, and not including any consideration for crimes that might still be committed with firearms Cooper illegally provided, the federal judge gave him just three years in prison.

‘Not a Victimless Crime’

NSSF has partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and local law enforcement agencies on the ground in communities across the country on the Don’t Lie for the Other Guy initiative for over 25 years to educate and warn the public about stiff penalties they face if they participate in an illegal “straw purchase” of a gun for someone else or lie on the ATF Firearms Transaction Form, known as an ATF Form 4473.

The consequences are severe. If convicted of the crime of lying on the background check form, the Don’t Lie campaign reminds the public that criminals could face up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It’s even possible there could be an additional 15 years in prison if the “straw purchase” firearm crosses state lines.

At a Don’t Lie launch event press conference in Las Vegas this year, ATF Director Steven Dettelbach made it clear about the seriousness of committing such a crime.

“Any successful strategy to reduce gun violence requires preventing the diversion of lawful firearms into unlawful commerce,” Director Dettelbach said at the time. “Once there, these firearms end up in the hands of people who are sometimes violent criminals and intend to do harm to the people with whom we live, the innocent people who are victims and survivors of gun violence.”

“Firearms trafficking is not a victimless crime,” Director Dettelbach has repeatedly stated. He even once referenced a specific instance where an illegally “straw purchased” firearm was later used by a different criminal to commit murder. “The woman who illegally bought the gun may not have pulled the trigger herself, but somebody died as a direct result of her crime,” he said at a different Don’t Lie event in St. Louis.

Real Solutions

The firearm industry believes deeply in our efforts to keep firearms out of the hands of those who should not possess them and that every law-abiding gun owner has a responsibility to secure and store their firearm safely when not in use. For decades the firearm industry through our many Real Solutions. Safe Communities. initiatives, including Don’t Lie, have shown real results towards making our communities safer, while also promoting lawful and responsible gun ownership. This is especially true among new, first-time gun owners.

Our initiatives save lives.

That’s the reason why seeing a soft-on-crime prosecutor or lax federal judge rewarding an egregious offender like Dion Cooper with a slap-on-the-wrist punishment is so aggravating and disheartening. Cooper’s actions and disregard for human life has and will continue to negatively impact the community of Kent and others, even while he is behind bars.

The industry does the hard work on the front lines to help reduce the occurrence of these crimes. Law enforcement and the federal partners all recognize how serious these crimes are. A lax punishment when these laws are broken is not acceptable.