Straw Man Duration?

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A straw purchase has nothing to do with buying a gun for a prohibited person. A straw purchase is when someone buys a gun from a dealer on behalf of another person. Whether that person is prohibited from possessing firearms is irrelevant.

I know, but I wasn’t thinking about that.

I was simply thinking, me and my wife are one.
Thinking more Christian than legal, I suppose.
 
I know, but I wasn’t thinking about that.

I was simply thinking, me and my wife are one.
Thinking more Christian than legal, I suppose.
That’s actually something that I’ve wondered about in the past. As we’ve already discussed, a straw purchase requires an exchange of money, goods, or services (or an agreement to make that exchange in the future) before the 4473 is completed and signed. But what about a couple that shares their money? It would be a straw purchase for me to hand my friend Fred $500 and have him go to the LGS and buy me a gun, but what about my wife? My wife and I share our money, but Fred and I don’t. Or take an exchange of services: If I told Fred I’d mow his law for a year if he bought me a gun from the LGS, that would be a straw purchase. But what if I did the same with my wife? We share the same lawn, but Fred and I don’t.

I presented this question to @Frank Ettin a few years ago via PM, and his answer was that — as far as he knew — this hasn’t come up in court so there’s no clear answer. He said that even if a couple shares their money, it could be problematic in some situations and would depend on marital property laws, among other things. (Frank, if this isn’t an accurate description of your response, please feel free to correct me.)

I suppose the simple answer is that because spouses usually share money and often share firearms, questions of what does and doesn’t constitute a straw purchase can get murkier when it comes to spouses, but there still is no explicit exemption for spouses when it comes to straw purchases laws.
 
The dealer doesn’t get to decide what’s a straw purchase, federal law does. Like @Spats McGee said, there is no exception for spouses when it comes to federal law regarding straw purchases. It doesn’t matter what an FFL’s individual policy is.

Also, that transaction you described would have been a straw purchase if your girlfriend filled out the 4473 out but the guns were for you and you paid for them. It wouldn’t have been a straw purchase if she filled out the 4473 and the guns were for her, even if you paid for them.

It wasn't a straw purchase. And I never implicated that a dealer decides, they do not. I also revealed that I bought 3 handguns which SHE liked. Firearms she owned and fired for about a year before I moved to the state. They were hers before they became mine.
 
And I never implicated that a dealer decides, they do not.
You’re right. I went back and I realize I misread what Spats was saying about an FFL’s assessment of the situation, and therefore I misunderstood your response to him. I apologize.

It wasn't a straw purchase. [...] I also revealed that I bought 3 handguns which SHE liked. Firearms she owned and fired for about a year before I moved to the state. They were hers before they became mine.
I wasn’t saying that your situation was automatically a straw purchase (because you didn’t give us enough information to make it 100% clear one way or another). I was simply presenting the two scenarios where your story would either be a straw purchase or it wouldn’t. Now that you’ve given more information, it certainly appears that there were no straw purchases.
 
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That’s actually something that I’ve wondered about in the past. As we’ve already discussed, a straw purchase requires an exchange of money, goods, or services (or an agreement to make that exchange in the future) before the 4473 is completed and signed. But what about a couple that shares their money? It would be a straw purchase for me to hand my friend Fred $500 and have him go to the LGS and buy me a gun, but what about my wife? My wife and I share our money, but Fred and I don’t. Or take an exchange of services: If I told Fred I’d mow his law for a year if he bought me a gun from the LGS, that would be a straw purchase. But what if I did the same with my wife? We share the same lawn, but Fred and I don’t.

I presented this question to @Frank Ettin a few years ago via PM, and his answer was that — as far as he knew — this hasn’t come up in court so there’s no clear answer. He said that even if a couple shares their money, it could be problematic in some situations and would depend on marital property laws, among other things. (Frank, if this isn’t an accurate description of your response, please feel free to correct me.)

I suppose the simple answer is that because spouses usually share money and often share firearms, questions of what does and doesn’t constitute a straw purchase can get murkier when it comes to spouses, but there still is no explicit exemption for spouses when it comes to straw purchases laws.
The question of shared money is, IMHO, a major factor in muddying the waters on married couples and straw purchases. If I remember the Abramski case correctly, there was quite a discussion about agency. Clearly, if Fred gives me money to buy him a rifle, I'm acting as his agent in the purchase. I am buying the rifle for him, using his money, so I am acting as his agent. The question is a very different if my wife gives me some of our money to buy her a gun. Am I acting as her agent? Maybe. But half of that money was mine. What if I earn twice as much as my wife? Does that mean that 2/3 of the money she gave me was mine to begin with (assuming it came out of a joint account)? What if the pistol is half mine under state property laws? What then? I don't know of any cases that have answered these questions.
 
When it comes to spouses buying guns for each other, keep in mind that it's perfectly legal to give firearms as gifts. There is absolutely no problem with a wife buying a firearm for a husband as a gift, or vice versa.
 
I know, but I wasn’t thinking about that.

I was simply thinking, me and my wife are one.
Thinking more Christian than legal, I suppose.

The person picking up the gun and completing the 4473 is the "transferee" She can use YOUR cash. It doesn't matter who's money it is. It matters who fills out the form and has a background check done. She can then let you use it and actually give it to you as a gift if you are nice.:)
 
The spouse-spouse situation will be legally unsettled. It's unlikely that we'll see any cases on it, except perhaps in situation with some particular characteristics (i. e., where one spouse is a prohibited person for some reason). In those cases the outcome will probably be largely driven by the particular characteristics.

And while marital property laws might seem simple, they are not. Only nine States are community property States; the rest follow common law marital property principles. And there are variations among community property laws and common law marital property laws. And all marital property systems include ways in which the spouses by agreement (either formal agreement or inferable from conduct) change the character of property.
 
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