Welcome to Spodek Law Group. If you found this page, something has probably already happened. Maybe ATF agents showed up at your door. Maybe a detective called asking about a gun purchase you made months or years ago. Maybe you just realized that the "favor" you did for a friend or family member might not have been legal. Whatever brought you here, we need to give you the truth about straw purchases - not the sanitized version other law firms present, not the vague warnings gun stores mention, but what actually happens when the federal government decides to prosecute.
Most people believe straw purchase laws exist to stop criminals from getting guns. That makes sense, right? Prohibited person can't pass background check, so they get someone else to buy the gun for them. But here's what nobody tells you until its too late: the crime isn't arming a prohibited person. The crime is lying on ATF Form 4473. Whether the person you bought for was a convicted felon or your completely law-abiding uncle makes absolutely no difference to your criminal liability. Your handwritten answer to Question 21.a - "Are you the actual transferee/buyer?" - becomes federal evidence the moment you check "yes" when you're not actually the buyer.
The Supreme Court confirmed this in 2014. In a case called Abramski v. United States, a man bought a gun for his uncle. The uncle could legally own firearms. There was no prohibited person anywhere in the transaction. Just a guy buying a gun for a family member who lived far away and wanted to take advantage of his nephew's law enforcement discount. The Supreme Court ruled this was still an illegal straw purchase. The lie on the form was the offense. The uncle's legal status was irrelevant.
The Question That Becomes Federal Evidence
When you walk into a gun store and decide to purchase a firearm, the dealer hands you ATF Form 4473. Its offical name is the Firearms Transaction Record. Every federaly licensed dealer must keep these forms for 20 years. Question 21.a sits right at the top of the form in bold letters.
Heres the thing. The question isnt asking whether the other person can legally own guns. Its asking whether YOU are the actual buyer. If someone else gave you money to make this purchase, if someone asked you to buy this gun because they couldnt or didnt want to, if you have any intention of transferring this firearm to another person for payment or as fulfillment of a request - your answer should be "no." But most people dont understand that. They think the question is about the other persons eligibility. Its not.
ATF Form 4473 instructions actualy say you can buy a gun as a gift. Thats legal. The form explicitly allows it. But read the instructions carefully because heres were people get confused. The moment money changes hands - even partial reimbursement, even "Ill pay you back later" - that gift exception evaporates. Gift means gift. No compensation whatsoever. And even if it was truly a gift, if you bought it at the other persons request, you've still got a problem.
Why Helping Your Uncle Can Still Get You 10 Years
Bruce Abramski was a former police officer. He wanted to help his uncle buy a Glock 19 at a good price. His uncle lived in another state and Abramski could get a law enforcement discount. So Abramski bought the gun in Virginia, filled out Form 4473 certifying he was the "actual buyer," then transfered it to his uncle through a licensed dealer in Pennsylvania - doing everything right for the actual transfer. Still a crime.
Look, the federal government wasnt pursuing this because Abramskis uncle was dangerous. Angel Alvarez was a perfectly legal gun owner. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court becuase the government wanted to establish a principle: it dosent matter whether the ultimate recipient can legally own firearms. What matters is weather YOU lied on the form. And if you checked "yes" when you were actualy buying for someone else, you lied. Let that sink in.
The maximum federal penalty for making a false statement on Form 4473 is 10 years in prison. Under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed in 2022, if prosecutors charge you under the new straw purchasing statute (18 U.S.C. § 932), the maximum jumps to 15 years. And if that gun was used in a felony, terrorism, or drug trafficking crime? 25 years. Thats not speculation - thats the sentancing range in federal law.
How They Trace Every Gun Back to Your Signature
People assume they wont get caught. The gun is gone, right? You dont have it anymore. How would anyone ever know? Heres what nobody explains: the ATF has a system called eTrace. When law enforcement recovers a firearm at ANY crime scene - could be a murder, could be a simple possession charge during a traffic stop, could be a domestic disturbance call - they enter the serial number into the database.
Within hours, ATF knows which manufacturer made that gun, which distributor shipped it, which dealer sold it, and whose signature is on the Form 4473. Your name. Your address. Your handwriting. Its all there waiting. The gun dealer kept that form for years specifically because federal law requires it. And now theres a direct line from a crime scene back to you.
The process is faster then most people imagine. ATF agents enter the serial number. The National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia processes the request. They contact the manufacturer, then the distributor, then the dealer. The dealer pulls the Form 4473 from their files - the one with your signature on it - and provides your information to investigators. This whole chain can happen in less than 24 hours for urgent traces. The paper trail you created years ago is waiting to convict you today.
OK so maybe you think, "Ill just say it was stolen" or "I sold it to a stranger." Thats a second federal crime. Making false statements to federal investigators is its own offense. And they will check. Theyll pull surveillance footage from around the time of the "theft." Theyll check your phone records, your text messages. Theyll interview your friends and neighbors. Thats the part nobody thinks about - investigators do this for a living. Youve committed one potential lie. You think you can out-investigate people who investigate for a living?
Heres another thing most people dont realize. If you buy two or more handguns from the same dealer within a five-day period, the dealer must file a Multiple Sale Report with ATF. Thats an automatic flag. Pattern analysis begins before youve even left the parking lot. Investigators look for people who buy multiple firearms in short periods, or who buy firearms that later show up in different states or at crime scenes. Your purchasing history is being monitored whether you know it or not.
ATF specificaly looks for something called "time to crime." When a gun is purchased and then recovered at a crime scene within a short period - months, not years - thats a red flag for trafficking or straw purchasing. Its not random when they show up at your door. Theyve already built a timeline of every gun you purchased and where those guns ended up before they ever knock.
When Your Friend Becomes the Prosecution's Star Witness
This is the part that destroys people psychologicaly. You bought the gun as a favor. You were helping someone. Maybe it was a boyfriend, girlfriend, family member, close friend. You thought you were doing something good. And now, when the investigation starts, that person is offered a deal.
Heres the kicker. Federal prosecutors know the actual buyer - the prohibited person, the person who couldnt pass the background check - is in legal trouble too. Felon in possesion is a serious charge. So they offer that person a plea deal: testify against the straw purchaser, get a reduced sentence. The person you were "helping" has every incentive to cooperate. They get less prison time. You get the full weight of the prosecution.
Think about that for a second. Your friend, your family member, the person you trusted enough to commit a federal crime for - they sit in a courtroom and explain exactly how you bought that gun for them. They describe the conversations you had. They produce text messages. "Can you pick up that thing for me?" "Ill pay you back when I see you." Every casual communication becomes evidence. And your defense attorney is sitting there trying to cross-examine someone who knows every detail of the transaction because they were there.
As Todd Spodek explains to clients facing this situation, the betrayal isnt personal. Its structural. The system is designed to turn co-conspirators against each other. The weaker legal position - the person who couldnt legally buy the gun in the first place - gets offered the deal becuase prosecutors know theyll take it. By the time you realize whats happening, the testimony is already recorded.
The Gift Exception: What Actually Makes It Legal
Federal law does allow you to buy a gun as a gift. This is explicit in the Form 4473 instructions. So when is it technicaly legal to buy a gun for someone else?
The gift must be genuine. No money changes hands. The recipient didnt ask you to buy it. You decided on your own to purchase a firearm as a gift. You pay with your own funds with no expectation of reimbursement. You can then give that gun to the other person - assuming they can legally possess it in your state.
Heres were it gets complicated. "Gift" means something specific in federal law. If the recipient says "hey can you buy me a gun and Ill pay you back" - thats not a gift. If you and your husband share finances and he asks you to go buy him a birthday present firearm using your joint account - case law is murky but prosecutors have argued thats still a straw purchase because he requested it. If your uncle gives you $500 and says "get me something nice at the gun show" - definately not a gift.
The distinction matters alot. Your intent at the time of purchase determines guilt. When you walked into that store and filled out Form 4473, what was your intention? Were you buying for yourself with plans to gift it later? Or were you buying at someone elses request? That mental state, that intention - thats what federal prosecutors evaluate. And they use your text messages, your phone calls, your bank records to prove what you were thinking.
Something else worth knowing. Even if you bought the gun as a legitimate gift with your own money and no request from the recipient, you still cant give that firearm to someone prohibited from possessing it. Thats a seperate crime - transferring a firearm to a prohibited person. So the gift exception protects you from the false statement charge on Form 4473, but it doesnt protect you if the person you give it to is a felon, domestic violence offender, or otherwise barred from gun ownership. You need to know who your giving the gift to and wheather they can legally possess it.
Who Gets Caught: The Statistics Nobody Wants to Hear
People imagine straw purchasers as hardened criminals running trafficking operations. The reality is much more troubling. According to ATF data from 2017-2021 trafficking investigations, 37 percent of identified firearms traffickers had no known criminal activity before their arrest. These werent career criminals. These were ordinary people who thought they were helping someone.
The demographic breakdown is eye-opening. While 84 percent of traffickers were male, women involved in these investigations were primarily straw purchasers - 72 percent of female traffickers identified were buying guns for someone else. Often boyfriends. Often family members. Often people they trusted completely.
See the problem? The system isnt catching criminal masterminds. Its catching girlfriends, mothers, friends - people who made one decision to help someone they cared about and ended up in federal prison. The person you bought that gun for might be facing their own charges, but your looking at federal prosecution basicly because your signature is on that form.
Sentancing data shows most convicted straw purchasers receive between one and 24 months in federal prison - thats about 35 percent of cases. Another 43 percent receive sentences between 25 months and six years. And roughly 22 percent receive sentences exceeding six years. These are real numbers from real cases. Federal time. No parole.
Real Cases: From One Signature to Federal Prison
In 2024, Ashley Dyrdahl bought firearms for her boyfriend Shannon Gooden in Minnesota. Gooden was prohibited from owning guns - he had a history that disqualified him. Those guns were later used by Gooden to murder two police officers and a firefighter responding to a domestic violence call at his home. ATF traced the guns within hours. Dyrdahl was arrested, charged federally, and sentenced to 45 months in federal prison.
She didnt pull the trigger. She didnt know he would use those guns to kill first responders. But she lied on Form 4473 when she checked "yes" she was the actual buyer. That signature made her federaly liable. 45 months. Nearly four years. For filling out paperwork.
In Chicago, Eric Blackman bought a 9mm Smith & Wesson for someone who was underage. That gun was later connected to a mass shooting that injured 13 people. Of the 31 shell casings found at the scene, 13 came from Blackmans purchase. Federal prosecutors called it a "case study" in straw purchasing. Blackman received 8 months in federal prison.
Notice the pattern: one signature on one form created a direct line between the buyer and mass casualties. The punishment wasnt for shooting anyone. The punishment was for enabling the shooting through a single lie about being the "actual buyer."
And these arent the worst cases. In Pennsylvania, straw purchasers face state charges that can stack with federal prosecution. Buying two or more guns for illegal transfer can result in 5-10 years minimum in state prison - and thats before federal charges even begin. One woman in Bucks County received 12-25 years for straw purchasing firearms for her boyfriend. Thats more time than some people get for manslaughter.
What Happens in the First 48 Hours After ATF Calls
If federal agents contact you about a firearms purchase, the clock starts ticking immediately. Most people panic. They want to "explain" the situation, convince the agents that it was all a misunderstanding. This is almost always a catastrophic mistake.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in federal court. The agents asking questions already know most of the answers. They have the Form 4473 with your signature. They know where the gun was recovered. They probably know who had it. Their questions arent designed to find out what happened - theyre designed to lock you into a story they can later prove was false.
Todd Spodek has seen this pattern hundreds of times at Spodek Law Group. Someone talks to investigators without an attorney present, makes statements they think are harmless, and those statements become exhibit A at trial. "I dont remember" becomes proof of consciousness of guilt. "I think I sold it to someone" becomes a new false statement charge when they prove you gave it to a specific person. "I was just doing a favor" becomes admission of the underlying conduct.
You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. These rights exist for exactly this situation. Exercise them. The investigation doesnt stop because you lawyer up - but at least you stop adding evidence against yourself.
The Stakes Are Too High for Guessing
If you made a purchase that might qualify as a straw purchase, if ATF or FBI has contacted you about a firearm transaction, if someone you bought a gun for is now in legal trouble - you are potentially facing federal felony charges with years of prison time. The federal system has no parole. Whatever sentence you receive, you serve approximately 85% of it. A 10-year sentence means over 8 years in federal prison.
The conviction rate in federal firearms prosecutions approaches 93%. Once prosecutors decide to charge, the odds are stacked heavily against you. But outcomes vary dramaticaly based on when you get proper legal representation, how you handle the initial investigation, whether there are viable defenses to explore, and how the case is negotiated.
Spodek Law Group handles federal firearms cases nationwide. We understand how ATF builds these cases, where the weaknesses are, and what defense strategies realy work versus what sounds good but fails in court. If your facing straw purchase charges or investigation, the next 48 hours matter more than you realize.
They have your signature. They have the trace. They may already have a cooperating witness. The question is what you do now.
Call 212-300-5196. The call costs nothing. Not making it could cost everything.
