By Larry Keane AmmoLand
Philadelphia is suing three firearm retailers โ Frankโs Gun Shop Double Tap Shooting Range and Deliaโs Gun Shop in Northeast Philadelphia, and Tannerโs Sports Center in Bucks County โ alleging the businesses are participating in illegal straw purchases, an illicit criminal activity where an individual lies on the background check form that they are the actual purchasers and instead sells or transfers a firearm to someone who canโt or wonโt be associated with the sale of a firearm.
Philadelphia City Law Department officials say that these stores are knowingly participating in the illegal straw purchases because firearms recovered at crimes have been traced back to sales originating at these stores. That allegation might play well to gun control groups and politicians but is devoid of any legal foundation. The crime of an illegal straw purchase is committed by the individual lying on the form, a crime that NSSF has been actively warning the public against committing.
Know the Difference
City officials are attempting to confuse and mislead the public between what is a legal sale and illegal purchase of a firearm. Every firearm sold at retail by a licensed dealer requires the purchaser to complete an ATF Form 4473, which includes the buyerโs signature attesting they are the actual purchaser (the true intended recipient) of the firearm. That purchaserโs information is then verified by the FBIโs National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Except in Pennsylvania, this is verified by the Pennsylvania Instant Criminal Background Check System (PICS) because the state is a point-of-contact (POC) state that conducts their own background checks through the Commonwealthโs state police.
This happens for every firearm sold at retail. Pennsylvania also requires universal background checks for all handgun transfers including those between private parties.
The firearm industry has partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Department of Justice (DOJ) for more than 20 years in the โDonโt Lie for the Other GuyTMโ public awareness campaign. These efforts include blanketing cities selected by the ATF with advertising reminding the public that lying on a Form 4473 and committing the crime of an illegal straw purchase of a firearm carries up to a 15-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.
NSSF just hosted one of these month-long public awareness campaigns in Philadelphia in June of 2022. It was the sixth time since at least 2009 that NSSF, along with ATF and DOJ, brought the campaign to a Pennsylvania city and the second time it was held in Philadelphia.
The City of Philadelphiaโs Law Department is basing their lawsuit on the shakiest of foundations. City officials argue that multiple sales of firearms are suspect, which isnโt true. Individuals can purchase multiple firearms at the same time. That has never been illegal in Pennsylvania. The same procedures apply if someone buys just one firearm a year or if they purchase multiple firearms at once. Fill out the Form 4473, sign it, run the PICS check.
Itโs the Crime, Stupidโฆ
City officials also argue that firearm retailers should know that โgun-related crimes are a directly foreseeable consequenceโ of their sales. Thatโs ludicrous. Background checks for firearm sales topped over 1 million per month for four years running, in part because Americans are refusing to be victims of crime. Thatโs the case in Philadelphia where Brenda Adams is among a group of women training with โTerryโs Angelsโ to learn to safely and effectively use a legally-owned firearm because crime is out of control.
โCarjackings, murder, it scared me,โ Adams said in a CBS News report. โIโve been living in Philadelphia almost 64 years and Iโve never seen anything like this. Thatโs why I carry a gun.โ
Adams isnโt wrong to be worried. So far in 2023, there have been 255 homicides in the city. There were 516 in 2022. In 2023, there have been over 900 shooting victims. Those are staggering figures but donโt expect city officials to hold criminals to account.
George Soros-backed District Attorney Larry Krasnerโs response to Philadelphiaโs rampant crime was to lash out for more gun control, not criminal control.
โFinally, I just want to say this: it is disgusting, the lack of proper gun legislation that we have in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,โ DA Krasner said at a press conference immediately following the tragic shootings and before facts were gathered. This is despite the fact the Brady gun control report card gives Pennsylvania a Top 10 spot in America for states with the strictest gun control laws. Everytown for Gun Safety ranks it at Number 15 and Giffordsโ gun control gives it the same โ 15 out of the 50 states with an added โB-โ for good measure.
DA Krasnerโs posturing is ironic. State legislators โ elected by voters โ successfully voted to impeach him last year for his abysmal record of keeping the public safe and holding criminals to account for their crimes. The Pennsylvania Senate failed to convict him, which would have required a two-thirds vote.
Mayor Cut Police, Demands Lawsuit
Philadelphiaโs Mayor Jim Kenney isnโt any better. He oversaw the Sheriffโs Office that โlostโ more than 200 firearms but makes outlandish claims like, โYou can say you back the blue but if you donโt back gun control and gun availability, you donโt back the blue.โ
This is the same Mayor Kenney that allowed a cut of $33 million to kowtow to the โdefund the policeโ efforts that decimated the cityโs police force. Heโs the same mayor who responded to criminals murdering two Philadelphia police officers by telling media, โIโm waiting for something bad to happen all the time. So Iโll be happy when Iโm not here, when Iโm not mayor, and I can enjoy some stuff.โ
Harry Hurley, a columnist for WPG Radio published a column last year headlined, โPhiladelphia, You Have Mayor Kenney & DA Krasner To Thank โฆโ In it, he wrote, โWhen you create a lawless environment, this is exactly the result that you should expect.โ
Mayor Kenney proclaimed that he would sue firearm retailers. Heโs made good on his threat. It seems he thinks it is more expedient to blame a business that didnโt commit a crime than the criminal that does. The problem is Mayor Kenney and his city hall lawyers are glossing over the fact that individuals commit the crime of straw โpurchase.โ It isnโt an illegal โsale.โ The business isnโt to blame for the criminal lying on the form and illegally transferring a firearm to a prohibited individual. Tracing a firearm from a crime scene back to a retailer doesnโt demonstrate that retailer ran afoul of the law. It is why Congress wisely passed legislation that bars trace data from being admitted as evidence โ because it isnโt evidence. Over 90 percent of federal convicts in prison for committing a crime admit they obtained that firearm through illicit means. Thatโs through the black market, theft or trading on a street corner.
Philadelphia is more interested in doing the bidding of gun control supporters and clogging the courts with baseless lawsuits. Instead, they should join the work that NSSF, the ATF and DOJ are doing to prevent illegal straw purchases and lock up the criminals that commit these crimes.
Find the original article in its entirety on AmmoLand.
12 Comments
To Boost crime & end tourism $$
I guess then that automobile dealers should know in advance that the vehicles they sell will be used in such criminal activities as speeding, running red lights, exceeding parking times, double parking, and hogging the left lane on the interstates.
yea. we need a database forcing auto dealers and private individuals to do background checks before selling a vehicle. insure thee buyer does not have any DUI’s or suspended license.
That’s always the way it is with the Democrats now. Don’t blame the murderer, or thief. Blame the gun manufacturers and dealers for criminal behavior. You couldn’t pay me enough money to live in any Democrat controlled s–thole.
Sleeeeeeeeeeeeze ball attorneys. There is no money to be made by locking up criminalsโฆbut suing companiesโฆmuch better odds.
A pathetic bunch of parasites.
A typical democrat run city, put the blame on everything but where the real problem is.
Dirty rotten bloody and deceitful lying lefty psychopaths as usual. But they shout that itโs your fault crime is at insanity levels because you own firearms and you donโt commit any violent crimes with them.
How about a hard look. Who is at fault here. Try the following. The voters who put clowns like the Philadelphia Mayor and DA into office.
Is anyone else curious about what NSSF stands for? It was referenced many times, but I didn’t see where it was defined. I hate when they do that.
So instead of spending money earmarked for prisons? They let the criminal element back on the street and wash that money. Conservative taxpayers end up paying to keep them in power and blame us. What a setup.
It is easier to catch the honest people because they are too lazy to catch the real criminals.
Anything for a buck right Philly? You don`t interpret the laws you enforce the ones on the books. How much money are you siphoning off the books for 3 hots and a cot???????????????????????? People of Philadelphia I would be asking to see the books.