Is my gun legal?
 

Back in 1998, I had a friend who was a cop show off the .25 Taurus he had bought his girlfriend. I enviously expressed my wish to buy a handgun. The Brady 5 day check was still in force at the time so I had never bothered to go thru the process. Well, my friend, the cop, told me we'd just go to the same store and get the gun with his Brady check. Not knowing any better, I agreed. Well, the store obliged even though I wrote them the check myself. My friend just told me to tell anyone that asked that I had bought it from him in a private sale. I had no idea this was a "straw purchase" and it was illegal. I just thought we were "cutting red tape." So, my question is this. Do I need to DO anything? I mean, if I ever have to use this gun in self defense, I don't want to be put away for violating a gun law! What should I do? I live in Louisiana, BTW, if that has any bearing.....

I'd call you local PD/SO and ask for their opinion. Do you still have the receipt for the pistol?

Yes, but it's just a cash register receipt.

Proves you paid for the weapon. That's all I have for my wife's Hipoint. It was good enough for Cali cops when it was stolen.

Well, my buddy, the nutty cop, had told me to just say I bought it from him in a private sale. However, I had worried about that angle in case Brady made the store owner make a copy of the check or something. But yeah, I DO have a copy of the receipt. :)

legal?
 

A straw purchase is when someone buys the gun for you because you are not able to buy it because of legal problems. As long as you are not prohibited from owning a firearm, you should be fine. I don't know the statute of limitations of this kind of thing but you should be fine. Just leave well enough alone and don't get involved with dealings like this in the future.

As long as you are legally able to own a gun, there is no problem. If anything, have your buddy draw up a bill of sale for the gun (include the serial number) and have it notarized.

I did the same thing once for my brother-in-law before he got the CWP, and he didn't want to wait the 5 days, so I purchased it for him. I asked a cop friend of mine if it was legal, and he told me that as long as he can legally purchase it, its fine.

Dude, I can't believe you have nothing better to worry about for the last 10 years? You need to meet some Jewish friends, they will teach you the meaning of guilt which will let you begin worrying about things that happen on a day-to-day basis
BTW, as a Gun Dealer myself, you don't have to worry about this, as already pointed out a "straw purchase" is when someone purchases a gun for a person who is not allowed to legally own a gun, unless of course you were not allowed to own a gun at the time this was purchased!


www.jpfo.org

I sell firearms for a living, a straw purchase is anybody buying a gun for someone else knowning that they cant get one on there on. they may have arrest records but also it can be as little as a PO box on there DL and they dont have anything with there main adress on it.Could be they got delayed with there NICS check and dont wanna wait so they try to get a friend to get it for them. As for the GUN your cop friend got you dont worry bout it, its said and done deal, the store you got it from would be the one in trouble anyways.