No, he wasn't making a straw purchase unless the cops asked him to buy it. You can buy a firearm with the intent to give it away so long as it's not to a person you know to be disqualified. The store should have just said "You don't believe in civil rights for others, therefore you get none yourself. We don't sell to liberal dickheads."
“No, he wasn’t making a straw purchase unless the cops asked him to buy it. You can buy a firearm with the intent to give it away so long as it’s not to a person you know to be disqualified.”
This.
The act was legal - insofar as what he claimed he would do with it.
Revoking the sale was sensible, though, as a seller is expected to not sell if the buyer seems suspicious ... and a claim that he was buying a >$1000 legal item just so he could hand it over to police sure doesn’t pass the “sane & legal” smell test.
And the store would be immediately sued for violation of customer's civil rights, regardless of the merits. It was the right move to use BATFE rules as an overt reason to deny the transaction. The seller is not required to hold a trial and to determine facts with absolute certainty. A prima facie suspicion is sufficient. Now the store is on the right side of the law.