No serious member of the shooting community wants firearms in the wrong hands. With this in mind, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) once again teamed up with the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to drive the message home.
The nearly two-decade-old partnership warns law-abiding citizens and others of the dire consequences of “straw purchases.” These are acts by people who buy a weapon for another person who is prohibited from possessing guns.
The most recent “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy” effort primarily targets San Antonio because of its proximity to the Mexican border.
ATF, NSSF publicize dire consequences of straw purchases
The NSSF, the weapon industry trade group, described the program as seeking “to reduce firearm straw purchases at the retail level and to educate would-be straw purchasers of the penalties of knowingly participating in an illegal firearm purchase.”
This act alone can lead to up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“Keeping guns out of the hands of convicted felons, minors, persons determined by a court of law to be ‘mentally defective,’ and other individuals prohibited by law from owning firearms is critical to preventing violent crime and keeping communities safe,”
South Texas is a hotspot for drug cartel trafficking of firearms
The NSSF and ATF held a joint press conference last week explaining that gun traffickers approach people who can legally buy firearms. These criminals recruit their targets to circumvent safeguards against the wrong people acquiring guns.
Authorities noted that San Antonio is ground zero for Mexican drug cartels moving everything from drugs and humans to illegally acquired weapons.
These illegal straw purchases threaten public safety by arming the wrong people. The ATF chose the historic city to attack the pipeline that runs both ways through the area, supplying cartels with firearms and those north of the border with deadly drugs.
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