[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by fiddletown

Then explain the ATF's Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide and http://www.atf.gov/training/firearms...swf/toon4.html.

The BATFE Federal Firearms Regulations Guide? Why do you reference that? The "Regulations" portion of that document reproduces Title 27 CFR Chapter 11, Part 478. First, if you look at the Definitions portion, there is no definition of "straw purchase," "straw purchaser," or "straw man." The terms "straw purchase," "straw purchaser," and "straw man" likewise do not appear in the index.

So then you start looking at those portions of the regulations that actually pertain to transfers.

478.32(a) - (c) ... No mention of straw purchase or straw purchaser.

478.32(d) ... No mention of straw purchase or straw purchaser.

478.99(c) ... No mention of straw purchase or straw purchaser.

So where is this term defined? Answer: It isn't. It is industry jargon, which is used by the BATFE informally to describe certain types of prohibited transfers. I am not a lawyer (and I know you are), but I respectfully stand by my position that saying the only situation that constitutes a straw purchase is a purchase from an FFL and involving falsifying answers on the Form 4473 is to ignore other types of prohibited transfers that the BATFE itself considers to be "straw purchases" (as indicated by the Copeland memo. And since the original question wasn't really intended to spark an argument over the definition but to find out if the proposed transaction is or is not legal, I respectfully suggest that continuing to insist that ONLY transfers involving giving false statements on the 4473 constitute straw purchases ill serves the original poster and the firearms owners community in general.

Here's the link to the 2005 BATFE Guide - it's the most recent edition I could find on-line: http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps4...005/p53004.pdf