If you’re a criminal and want to obtain a gun how do you go about doing it? According the the anti-gunners you go to a gun show. What they don’t tell you though is the fact most people at gun shows are dealers and thus required to perform background checks thus most criminals usually try to get somebody with a clean record to purchase guns for them. This is known as a straw purchase and is illegal. Thankfully most criminals are rather simple minded and don’t think things all the way through so they often raise a bunch of red flags when trying to skirt the law. The guys at Monsoor’s Sports Shop encountered one of these idiot criminals trying to obtain a gun through a straw purchase:
Monsoor’s Sport Shop owner Pat Wendling contacted the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives last week about a possible “straw purchase” after the 28-year-old La Crosse man came in to look at handguns.
What do you think was the red flag that caused them to call the ATF was? I’m betting it was this:
When shown a 9 mm Taurus pistol, Damon Taylor lifted his shirt, tucked the gun in his waistband, commenting it would fit nicely, according to an ATF agent’s affidavit unsealed Friday. He said he wanted to buy the pistol for his fiancée and asked how to go about it.
Ah yes the waistband carry test followed by an excuse that he wanted to buy the gun for somebody else. Yup, that won’t raise any attention at all.
Beyond this story though I’d also like to give a shout out to Monsoor’s. The La Crosse area is where I was born and spent a good chunk of my life. During my time living there I did quite a bit of business with them and they were always great people to deal with. If you’re ever in the area and need something gun related I highly recommend them.
I hope they convict the woman as a straw buyer, that is how we will stop straw purchases by people hearing stories of people they know who went to prison for buying a gun for someone else.
Also, you can try Wiebke Fur for guns. If you are a MN resident and want to purchase from Wiebke’s, try calling Bob Vegland in La Crescent, and see if they will transfer the pistol for you. This would apply to any WI gun store, but I know for a fact that the Wiebke’s/Tri-state connection works.