Facts about straw purchases of weapons, and what's being done to stop them

It's a scenario that plays out over and over again at American crime scenes: The investigation reveals that the shooter didn't get his firearm legally from a store or gun show, but instead obtained it from someone who did.

It's known as a straw purchase. A federal law signed in 2022 takes aim at the practice, and federal investigators have made it a priority to combat it. Those caught can face lengthy prison sentences. But despite that, evidence suggests straw purchases are becoming even more problematic.

HOW DOES A STRAW PURCHASE WORK?

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives defines a straw purchase as buying a firearm for someone who is prohibited by law from possessing one, or for someone who doesn't want their name associated with it. Weapons bought through straw purchases sometimes end up in the hands of convicted felons, or minors.

A federal report released in February 2023 showed that 54% of guns that police recovered at crime scenes in 2021 had been purchased within three years, a double-digit increase since 2019. The quicker turnaround can indicate illegal gun trafficking or a straw purchase. The increase was driven largely by guns bought less than a year before, the report stated.

WHAT IS THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DOING TO COMBAT STRAW PURCHASES?

In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a measure spurred in part by mass shootings including the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The law made it a federal crime to traffic in firearms. It also created stronger penalties for straw purchases — up to a 25-year prison sentence if the weapon is used in an act of terrorism, or while drug trafficking.

Meanwhile, the