NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
Can you go to prison for buying gun for someone else
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek – with over 40 years of combined experience. We’ve represented clients in cases that captivated national attention, like Anna Delvey’s trial that became a Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, and the Alec Baldwin stalking matter. If you’re here, you’re probably worried about a straw purchase charge – and you should be.
Yes, you can go to prison for buying a gun for someone else. Federal prosecutors treat straw purchases as serious crimes, not paperwork violations. The penalties start at 10 years in federal prison, and they go up to 25 years if the government can prove you knew or should have known the gun would be used in a felony, drug trafficking, or terrorism. That’s not a scare tactic – that’s the law under 18 U.S.C. § 932, the straw purchasing statute Congress passed in 2022.
People think straw purchases are victimless crimes. They’re not. In January 2025, a woman in Pennsylvania got 7 to 14 years in state prison for buying guns on false forms – one of those guns was used in a fatal shooting. In Virginia, a man received 17 years in federal prison after using his girlfriend to straw-purchase 19 firearms. These aren’t outliers. Federal prosecutors have brought over 500 straw purchase cases since the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gave them new tools in 2022.
What Makes a Purchase a “Straw Purchase”
ATF Form 4473 asks one question that trips people up: “Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form?” If you’re buying the gun for yourself, you check “yes.” If you’re buying it for someone else – even your spouse, even your kid, even someone who could legally buy it themselves – you’re supposed to check “no.” Most people lie. That lie is the crime.
The actual buyer is the person providing the money and making the decision to acquire the firearm. If your friend gives you cash to buy a Glock because they don’t want their name on the paperwork, you’re a straw purchaser the moment you check that box. Doesn’t matter if your friend passed a background check last year. The form asks who’s buying the gun today – if you lie, you’ve violated federal law.
Common scenarios: buying a handgun for a convicted felon boyfriend, purchasing firearms for a friend under indictment, acquiring guns for someone who failed a background check. Every one carries federal prison time.
The Federal Penalties Are Worse Than You Think
The base penalty for a straw purchase under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6) is up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. That’s if nothing else goes wrong. If the gun you purchased gets used in a crime – any crime – prosecutors can charge you under § 932 with enhanced penalties. The statute says “knowing or with reasonable cause to believe” the firearm will be used to commit a felony. That’s a low bar. If you bought the gun for someone with a criminal record, prosecutors will argue you had “reasonable cause to believe” they’d use it illegally.
Real sentencing data from 2024-2025 shows what federal judges actually impose. In Wisconsin, a man who directed straw purchases got 2 years – his accomplice got 3 years of probation. In Ohio, a conspiracy leader received 6 years. In Virginia, an armed career criminal who straw-purchased 19 guns received 17 years. A single straw purchase with no prior record might get you probation if you cooperate early. Multiple purchases or guns used in shootings – you’re looking at significant prison time.
The Investigation Starts Before You Know It
ATF doesn’t investigate straw purchases the day you buy the gun. They investigate when the gun shows up somewhere it shouldn’t be. A traffic stop. A murder scene. A drug house. ATF traces the gun back to the dealer, pulls the 4473 form with your name on it, and suddenly you’re explaining why the gun registered to you was found in a felon’s car three states away.
Most people lie to ATF at this point. They say the gun was stolen but never reported it. They claim they sold it to “some guy” whose name they don’t remember. Every one of those statements makes your case worse. Federal agents record interviews and compare your story to phone records, text messages, and bank transfers. When your story doesn’t match the evidence, they charge you with the straw purchase and add false statement charges on top.
What you say to ATF during the initial contact determines whether you face 2 years or 10 years. We’ve had clients walk into voluntary interviews without counsel and talk themselves into conspiracies they weren’t part of. Once ATF has your recorded statement, there’s no taking it back. The time to call a federal criminal defense attorney is the moment ATF contacts you – before you say a single word.
How Prosecutors Build These Cases
Prosecutors build straw purchase cases with the 4473 form itself – your signature next to the statement that you’re the actual buyer. When the gun ends up with someone else, the form becomes proof you lied under penalty of perjury. They use financial records – bank transfers, Venmo transactions, cash withdrawals showing payments right before the purchase. We’ve seen cases where a $500 Venmo payment for “rent” three days before a $450 gun purchase became evidence of a straw buy conspiracy.
They use your communications. Text messages asking what kind of gun someone wants. Phone calls arranging to meet at the gun store. Social media posts about “helping a friend get strapped.” Every message you sent becomes a trial exhibit. And they use cooperators – if you were part of a larger trafficking operation, someone lower in the conspiracy will testify against you for a reduced sentence.
Why You Need a Lawyer Who Knows Federal Firearms Law
Straw purchase cases aren’t state court gun charges. They’re federal prosecutions with mandatory sentencing guidelines and career prosecutors who specialize in firearms trafficking. The Assistant U.S. Attorney handling your case knows the statutes, the guidelines, and the investigative techniques ATF uses.
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled federal firearms cases across the country. We know how ATF runs these investigations. We know when the government’s evidence has gaps and when their theory doesn’t match the facts. We know which federal judges actually vary downward from the guidelines and which ones impose the high end every time.
If ATF contacts you about a gun purchase – don’t answer their questions. Don’t agree to an interview. Call us at 212-300-5196. We’re available 24/7. The earlier we get involved, the more options you have.
We’ve represented clients in cases that others said were unwinnable – cases with recordings, cooperators, and guns recovered at murder scenes. Some got probation. Some got sentences far below what the guidelines recommended. You can go to prison for buying a gun for someone else. The question is whether you’ll go for 2 years or 20 years – and that depends on decisions you make right now, starting with whether you talk to federal agents without a lawyer.