It’s illegal to purchase a gun for anybody else, period, unless it is a bona fide gift. It’s called a straw purchase and carries a very hefty federal prison sentence.
Was the kid a convicted felon? Did the dad buy him the gun after his conviction?
Straw purchases are illegal and felons can’t posses firearms. Fathers can give firearms to sons, daughters, etc, but not if they are felons.
The only firearms convicted felons can legally buy at stores in the US are those made before 1899, or of a style of firearms made before 1899.
Three things worth noting against the gaining momentum to blame the father here:
1. The boy was a 21 year old adult.
2. The boy was not an ex-con as your thread suggests. He has two charges, but they are pending. He has been convicted of neither.
3. To be fair to the father, he didn’t necessarily know about his son’s pending charges. I successfully hid a DUI from my parents when I was his age.
Now the father may well have known everything and he may even have purchased the weapon so that he would carry out this very purpose. All I am saying is that the adult boy is responsible for his own actions and let’s wait for the facts to come in before we rush to judgement against the father. He may very well feel sickened by the whole turn of events.
He hadn’t been convicted of a felony on drug charges yet. However, he couldn’t purchase the the firearm without committing perjury on the Form 4473, line 11e, which asks about illegal drug use.
Uhm, yeah!
Similarly here in NY.
NRA ILA
APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation
South Carolina: Update on Pro-Gun Bills in Columbia
Friday, March 27, 2015
On Wednesday, the “Fraudulent Firearms and Ammunition Purchase Prevention” bill, H. 3116, passed unanimously in the state House of Representatives. H. 3116 is now headed for the state Senate for consideration and committee referral.
Introduced by state Representative Mike Pitts (R-14), H. 3116 strengthens the law prohibiting straw purchases of firearms and ammunition from Federal Firearms License holders. This bill is designed to help prevent individuals who are prohibited from purchasing firearms or ammunition in South Carolina from engaging others who are not prohibited into making the purchases for them. It would also protect lawful firearm retailers from illegal gun sting operations such as those by anti-gun former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. While mayor, Bloomberg had sent hired agents into other states to attempt illegal firearm purchases in an effort to blame federally licensed firearm retailers for gun crime in New York City and around the country.
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess121_2015-2016/bills/3116.htm
As far as I know, the drug charge against the shooter has not yet gone to trial.
Also, from the reports I’ve read, he got the gun gift last December. The drug arrest and the trespassing arrest came in March or April, in 2015.
I see no provision in the second amendment barring ex-cons from owning or carrying firearms. Anyone who can’t be trusted with one should not be running around loose.
Question: As the father gave his pyscho son a pistol for his birthday, can the father be held liable for the killings??
It is illegal to act as a straw buyer to purchase a gun on someone else’s behalf, even for someone who is not a felon. It is also illegal to provide a gun to a convicted felon.
“(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person—
(1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) is a fugitive from justice;
(3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
(4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution; “
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/922
under indictment: an official written statement charging a person with a crime
That kid possessing a firearm in MA would have almost been a capital offense. //sarc.
Well, not a capital offense. We can’t even convict terrorists of capital offenses here.