Yup but according to http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/p/atf-p-5300-4.pdf it is not an illegal one (I think). This is not legal advice.
It would not be a “straw purchase” by that definition...It is a gift...
Yet the real crime, if you want to classify it as such, is allowing a minor access to a firearm...Some states have laws on the books to that effect...
I was 7 years old when I recall a means by the adults in my life to get me to clear out of their adult discussions was to go over the hill behind the house, in the woods, alone, with a Stevens .22LR semi-automatic rifle, to see what I could see...
Obviously I am still here, typing away in my middle age, and not in a prison for being such a horrible child for shooting at cans with that particular rifle...
I imagine this has been repeated over the years in many states with many such kids this age...The odds are with us...
In my opinion, doing something inheirently dangerous, safely, at such an age, self-teaches a healthy respect, and gives a dose of reality, to today’s nonsense...That is ingrained in your psychy for the rest of your life...
When you are brought up as a paranoid little twerp by parents and other outside influences, no wonder this country is going to crap in a handbasket...