Christian Hall, 24, was today sentenced to five years in prison and two years of probation after pleading guilty May 23 to numerous counts of straw purchasing firearms, according to a release from the District Attorney’s Office.
Between April and August of 2011, Hall falsely identified himself on federal and state purchase forms as the actual buyer of four handguns and an AK-47, then illegally transferred them to criminals in the Olney section of the city.
Hall bought a Glock .357 and a Glock .40 at Frank’s Gun Shop on the 4700 block of Blakiston Street in Holmesburg and handed over the handguns to two men, identified only as Punch and Brandon. The Glock .40 was recovered at the scene of a shooting on Feb. 22, 2012.
Now what the antis don’t want to talk about is that in Pennsylvania it is illegal to sell a handgun privately….so this guy went to a gun shop and bought the guns legally…then sold then ILLEGALLY.
He had a clean background, and yet now he’s a prohibited person and going to spend a few years in prison. This is EXACTLY the behavior banning private sale is supposed to PREVENT….but laws don’t prevent crime, hence why one of the guns was recovered at a MURDER…you know, one of the most taboo crimes in most cultures. All laws do is direct punishment against people found GUILTY of those crimes.
Of course selling guns to prohibited people, and lying on FFL forms is a FEDERAL crime, so in all 50 states this is a serious crime, the difference in Pennsylvania, the state could also get a piece of this guy if they wanted and charge him with the state crime of selling a handgun privately….but does it really matter?
There’s the crux of anti-rights proposals, ban guns for irrelevant features, add restrictions that won’t work (like the NFA to prevent people like John Dillinger, Clyde Barrow, and Al Capone from using certain weapons…that they got from stealing from Armories or corrupt Police, or the GCA ’68 in the wake of the killing of JFK and MLK, adding restrictions on gun sales that wouldn’t have stopped those assassins, or the Brady Bill, which wouldn’t have stopped Hinkley) or add redundant laws with the intent of stopping activities that are already illegal.
Their logic is “If guns were as illegal as murder, nobody would be murdered with guns!”, and it makes sense to them!
Funny thing is, the guy only got caught AFTER the Police found one of the Guns during the scene of the crime. Wonder how many Firearms are on the Streets that were “Straw Bought” and have yet to be misused?
And that’s why these Laws are useless. If Criminals want Guns, Criminals get Guns. THAT’S WHY THEY’RE CALLED CRIMINALS!
Of course, these Laws do NOT apply if the BATFE breaks them, a la Fast and Furious.