Congrats on your new rifle ma'am. Now, turn around, place your arms behind you, and be handcuffed. You are under arrest for a "straw purchase".
And how do you conceivably confuse that with a straw purchase?
She immediately handed it off to the cops, because she didn't want it. Buying for someone else IS a straw purchase, and illegal.
Nope. It's only a straw purchase if the person you are buying it for isn't legally permitted to own it. Being prohibited to buy it isn't the issue, because some people are permitted by law to own a firearm while not being legally permitted to purchase it. You can buy such a person a firearm without it being the crime of a straw purchase.
This is how I got my first revolver, i.e., I was too young to be legally able to purchase it, but was still allowed to own it, so a cop I knew did the purchase for me in his name (using my money), then gave it to me. Then I registered it with the police as mine, as required by law. I was 19 at the time, so Federally licensed dealers weren't permitted to transfer to me a handgun, but, again, no law at that time prohibited me from acquiring one otherwise. Thus, at that time (no court having yet distorted the law) it wasn't a straw purchase offense.
PS This post has been changed to acknowledge that it appears that courts have recently "reinterpreted" the law regarding what is and isn't a straw purchase. Consult an attorney before buying someone a gun as a gift.
